SAFETY
Counting the cost of ignoring road safety
A new report by the World Bank and Bloomberg Philanthropies outlines the effect of road fatalities and injuries on economic growth
A new World Bank study has found that reducing road traffic deaths and injuries could result in substantial long-term income gains for low-and middle-income countries. The study, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies and named The High Toll of Traffic Injuries: Unacceptable and Preventable, introduces a new global methodology to calculate the economic effect of road safety and analyses the cases of China, India, the Philippines, Tanzania and Thailand. While there is general recognition of road traffic injuries and fatalities, little is known about the link between road traffic injuries and economic growth. The new report quantifies how investments in road safety are an investment in human capital. The study finds that countries that do not invest in road safety could miss out on between 7% and 22% in potential per capita GDP growth over a 24-year period. The reports says that this requires policy makers to prioritise proven investments in road safety. The cost of inaction is more than ...
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