Shifting out of neutral: a new approach to global road safety.

AuthorMcDonald, Kevin M.

ABSTRACT

On April 14, 2004, the United Nations dedicated "World Health Day" to improving global road safety. In explaining the need to focus the world's attention on road safety, Secretary General Kofi Annan declared that "World Health Day is an occasion for us to highlight the [road safety] problem and ... to underscore the fact [that crashes] are avoidable, they are not just accidents, they are human errors which[,] with proper governmental policy[,] can be dealt with." Just what the "proper governmental policy" should be, however, requires an understanding of the factors associated with vehicle crashes. After examining these factors, the Author discusses international responses to date and recommends that, as an initial step, countries seeking to improve road safety create a single governmental agency that would function similarly to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION II. THE PROBLEM OF ROAD SAFETY A. Traffic Crashes Are a Global Epidemic 1. Deaths and Injuries 2. Financial Burden B. Factors Involved in Traffic Crashes 1. Speeding 2. Alcohol 3. Helmets 4. Safety Devices 5. Trauma Care 6. Road Design and Roadway Environment 7. Lack of Vehicle Inspection Programs 8. Summary C. Absent Any Action, the Problem of Traffic Crashes Will Worsen III. THE RESPONSE OF THE UNITED NATIONS A. Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations--WP29 1. Purpose of Harmonization 2. Role of the United Nations in Harmonization of Safety Regulations: WP.29 (1) 3. 1998 Global Agreement B. General Assembly Resolutions 1. World Health Day 2004 2. So What? A Word About General Assembly Resolutions IV. BEYOND JUST WORDS: ADOPTING A "SYSTEMS" APPROACH TO SOLVE THE CRISIS--USING NHTSA AS A WORLD MODEL A. Overview B. A Brief Drive Into the U.S. Auto Industry C. Enforcement Programs 1. Set Safety Standards 775 2. Investigate Safety-Related Defects 778 3. Oversee Recalls 4. Summary V. CONCLUSION For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Isaac Newton's Third Law of Motion

  1. INTRODUCTION

    The next time you get into a car, consider this: each year, more than 1.2 million people die in traffic crashes--more than 3,200 each day. (2) By the time you finish reading this Article (assuming it takes you about thirty minutes), more than 270 people will die on roads somewhere throughout the world. (3) That amounts to more than two people every minute. (4) In the United States alone, traffic crashes killed 42,643 people and crippled or injured 2.89 million in 2003. (5) Traffic crashes constitute the leading cause of death for Americans two years of age and those between the ages of four and thirty-three. (6)

    In recognition of this global health concern, the World Health Organization (WHO) (7) dedicated World Health Day 2004 to the theme of road safety. (8) On April 7, 2004, hundreds of organizations around the world hosted events to help raise awareness about traffic injuries, their grave consequences, and the enormous costs to society. (9)

    Throughout the world, sales of cars and trucks continue to grow. In the thirty member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), (10) the number of vehicles is expected to increase by sixty-two percent between 2003 and 2015, to 705 million. (11) Asian countries are projected to experience the greatest growth in the number of vehicles in the near future. (12)

    For example, China's automobile market is the fastest growing in the world. (13) By 2010, China's vehicle market will likely overtake Japan's as the second largest in the world; by 2025, it could well overtake the U.S.'s vehicle market as the largest. (14) In real numbers, ten million vehicles will be sold annually in China by 2010, growing to thirty million by 2019. (15)

    In China, as in other Asian countries, the increased number of vehicles poses a cost to society--humans are losing their lives or suffering serious, often permanent, injuries. Vehicles are increasingly being driven on roads or trails that were built for and are populated with pedestrians, bicyclists, and livestock. (16) Even though only 1.9 percent of the world's cars are in China, drivers in that country cause fifteen percent of road deaths worldwide. (17) In comparison, 30 percent of the world's cars are located in the United States, (18) where drivers cause 3.55 percent of road deaths worldwide. (19)

    The urbanization of the developing world is only one part in the complex issue of global road safety. Another part is developing effective solutions. To date, solutions have been offered by a diverse variety of academics, (20) statisticians, (21) physicians, (22) public safety experts, (23) and economists. (24) This Article seeks to contribute to this ongoing interdisciplinary debate from the perspective of a product regulatory attorney. Part II describes the problem of global road safety generally by providing a statistical overview and brief explanation of the chief factors associated with crashes. Part III analyzes the response of the United Nations to the problem by discussing harmonization efforts and applicable resolutions of the General Assembly. Part IV offers insight into the workings of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and recommends that, as an important first step, countries create a single government agency that would function much similar to the NHTSA.

  2. THE PROBLEM OF ROAD SAFETY

    The World Health Organization (WHO) (25) describes the problem of global road safety as follows:

    Throughout the world, roads are bustling with cars, buses, trucks, motorcycles, mopeds and other types of two- and three-wheelers. By making the transportation of goods and people faster and more efficient, these vehicles support economic and social development in many countries. But while motorized travel provides many benefits, it can also do serious harm unless safety is made a priority. Pedestrians and cyclists using roads are particularly at risk. Crashes are frequent. Deaths and injuries are common. (26) This Part discusses the problem of road safety by (1) providing a statistical overview of the epidemic, (2) explaining the key factors associated with crashes, and (3) forecasting future events if current trends continue.

    1. Traffic Crashes Are a Global Epidemic

      1. Deaths and Injuries

      According to the World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention, co-published by the WHO and the World Bank in 2004, (27) traffic crashes worldwide kill approximately 1.2 million people each year. (28) This breaks down to more than 3,287 people daily who die somewhere on the world's roads. In 2002, road crashes caused 2.1 percent of all global deaths, making auto accidents the eleventh leading cause of death in the world. (29) Worldwide, traffic crashes trail only childhood infections and AIDS as the highest killer of people between the ages of five and thirty. (30)

      Aside from deaths, globally nearly fifty million annual injuries occur as a result of traffic crashes. (31) Data from the WHO global Burden of Disease study in 2002 reveal that, of those injured severely enough to require medical attention, nearly one-quarter had traumatic brain injury and one-tenth had open wounds. (32) Fractured bones constituted most of the other injuries. (33) In almost all countries, traffic crashes are the leading cause of traumatic brain injuries. (34)

      In the United States alone, 42,643 people died and 2.89 million people were injured in 2003. (35) In the European Union, traffic crashes kill more than 40,000 people (36) and injure 1.7 million each year, (37) permanently disabling more than 150,000 people annually. (38) And in Japan, traffic crashes killed 7,702 people in 2003 and injured a record-high 1.2 million. (39)

      Traffic death rates have decreased in high-income countries since the 1960s and 1970s. (40) Success rates, however, vary within these countries. For example, in North America, from 1975 through 1998, the traffic fatality rate per 100,000 population declined by 63 percent in Canada and 27 percent in the United States. (41)

      In contrast, fatality rates have increased in low- to middle-income countries. (42) From 1975 through 1998, traffic fatality rates rose by 44 percent in Malaysia and 243 percent in China. (43) Developing and transitional countries cumulatively represent more than 85 percent of all road traffic deaths. (44) Forty-four percent of all road traffic deaths occur in the Asia/Pacific region, even though the area only has 16 percent of the world's total number of motor vehicles. (45)

      2. Financial Burden

      In addition to death and inquiry, traffic crashes cause tremendous financial losses to society. Globally, traffic crashes cost $518 billion a year. (46) When broken down, this cost equates to one percent of the gross national product (GNP) of low-income countries, 1.5 percent of middle-income countries, and two percent in high-income countries. (47) Low-income and middle-income countries must shoulder $65 billion a year, which is more than they receive in development assistance. (48)

      Traffic crashes tend to affect the poor disproportionately in at least four ways. (49) First, in sheer numbers, poorer people suffer the majority of deaths. (50) Second, poorer people lack ongoing support in the event of a long-term injury. (51) Third, poorer people have limited access to post-crash emergency care. Fourth, in many developing countries, the costs of prolonged medical care, the loss of the family breadwinner, the cost of a funeral, and the loss of income because of a disability can push families into poverty. (52)

      In the European Union, vehicle crashes cost around 45 billion [euro] each year. (53) Indirect costs, including physical and psychological damage suffered by both the victims as well as their families, are around 135 [euro] to 140 billion each year. (54) According to the European Commission, "[t]he annual figure is put at EUR 160 billion, equivalent to two percent of the...

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