Youth and road safety - World Health Organization

1 Youth and road safety Table of contents Foreword vi Executive summary vii 1. Introduction 1. 2. Young road users: a profile 2. Which young road users are most affected by road traffic injuries? 2. Type of country 2. gender 4. Socioeconomic level 4. How do young people use the road? 5. What type of injuries do they typically sustain? 7. What are the costs of their injuries? 7. Why are young road users at high risk? 8. The road environment 9. Developmental factors 10. Child developmental factors 10. Youth -related risk taking 10. Peer influence 11. Social pressures 11. Inexperience 11. gender 12. 3. Preventing road traffic injuries among children and young people 14. strategies for protecting young road users 14. Modifying the road environment 14. Parental guidance and support 15. Reducing exposure of young adults to traffic 16.

2 Other strategies 16. Youth and iv Youth and road safet y Specific interventions that have proved effective 18. Speed 18. Youth and speed 18. Helmets 20. Youth and helmet use 20. Bicycle helmets and cycling 22. Alcohol 24. Youth and alcohol 24. Seat-belts 28. Youth and seat-belts 28. Child restraints 30. Conspicuity 33. Young people and conspicuity 33. The importance of emergency medical services 35. Pre-hospital care 35. Hospital care 36. Rehabilitation 36. 4. Conclusion 37. References 39. road safety . Youth and road safet y Foreword of United Nations General Assembly resolutions as well as a World Health Assembly resolution urging countries to take further action to curb this escalating epidemic. This document has been produced by WHO and launched on the occasion of the First United Nations Global Road safety week, dedicated to Youth and Road safety .

3 The document does not seek to single out young adults and children Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General, as risk-takers deserving special attention. Instead, World Health Organization it seeks to highlight the many interventions which can and should be taken to make our children safer R oad traffic crashes are a routine occurrence on roads throughout the World . Thousands of people lose their lives on the roads every day. on the roads. We know that there is no blue-print for road safety , no simple solution or easy vaccine- like intervention. But we do have some tried and Many millions more are left with disabilities or tested interventions which can keep our Youth emotional scars that they will carry for the rest of safer as they go about their daily activities. We their lives. Children and young adults are among hope that this document will inspire governments, the most vulnerable.

4 Every hour of every day, forty road builders, vehicle manufacturers and other youngsters die as a result of road traffic crashes. stakeholders around the globe to think about our This means that every day another one thousand young road users when they build roads, design families have to cope with the unexpected loss of vehicles and implement road safety programmes. a loved one. Losing a child is never easy. Knowing We also hope that it will inspire many more young that a child was lost to a preventable incident may adults to encourage their peers and friends to make add to the pain and suffering, and can leave families responsible decisions when taking to the roads and and communities with emotional wounds that take become activists for road safety . decades to heal. The future of a country is its young This is a tragedy we can change.

5 Publication people. We cannot afford to lose our children to of the WHO and World Bank World report on road road traffic crashes. When planning road safety traffic injury prevention in 2004 and the dedication initiatives, policy-makers and leaders need to of World Health Day to road safety have resulted in recognize children's vulnerabilities as well as their unprecedented attention to road safety around the inexperience, developmental needs and exuberance World . These events issued a clear call for action, for life. Road traffic crashes are not accidents . and governments, international organizations, We need to challenge the notion that road traffic civil society, road safety practitioners, and the crashes are unavoidable and make room for a private sector have all responded with energy pro-active, preventive approach to reducing death and enthusiasm.

6 As a concrete expression of this on our roads. Doing so is our best route to better energy and enthusiasm, we have seen a number road safety . vi Youth and road safet y Executive summary R oad traffic crashes kill million people each year and injure millions more, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries. A number of factors increase the likelihood of road traffic injuries occurring, not only among young people, but also in the general population. These include speed, lack of helmet use, lack of seat-belt Every day just over 1000 young people under and child restraint use, drinking and driving, and the age of 25 years are killed in road traffic lack of conspicuity. Interventions to address these crashes around the World . Road traffic injuries specific risk factors have been promoted through are the leading cause of death globally among the World report on road traffic injury prevention.

7 15 19-year-olds, while for those in the 10 14-years strategies to protect children in traffic can include and 20 24-years age brackets they are the second modifications to the environment and to vehicles leading cause of death. and changes in behaviour. Most young people killed in road crashes are This document outlines some of the strategies that vulnerable road users pedestrians, cyclists, can be targeted specifically at reducing road traffic motorcyclists and passengers of public crashes among Youth . These include addressing transport with those from the African and the major risk factors, through legislation and Eastern Mediterranean regions most at risk. enforcement, and by educating the public about the use of protective equipment. In many parts of the World children and young adults and other vulnerable road users have been Road traffic injuries are a public Health epidemic given inadequate consideration in urban planning that costs countries millions of dollars.

8 However, decisions. As a result, they are often forced to there is evidence of what can be done effectively to share transport space with motorized vehicles, cut the volume of deaths and injuries linked to road increasing their chances of being involved in a traffic crashes. Bringing about a reduction in the road traffic crash. A combination of physical and road traffic toll among Youth requires both political developmental immaturity among children, and will and financial investments in prevention efforts inexperience and Youth -related lifestyles further targeting young people. increase the risk of young road users particularly males to road traffic collisions. the future vii Youth and road safet y photo P. Virot/WHO. Youth and viii Youth and road safet y 1 Introduction E ach year nearly million people die and millions more are injured or disabled as a result of road traffic crashes.

9 The vast majority (over This document aims to raise awareness and to promote action around factors which can make the greatest impact in reducing road traffic injuries 90%) of all road traffic deaths and injuries occur in among young people. It draws heavily on the World low-income and middle-income countries (1). report on road traffic injury prevention, jointly published by the World Health Organization and In high-income countries, most of those killed the World Bank on the occasion of World Health or injured in road traffic crashes are drivers and Day in 2004 (1). passengers of four-wheeled vehicles. In low-income and middle-income countries, however, vulnerable Global data used in this document are taken from road users pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists the World Health Organization 's Global Burden of and users of public transportation constitute a Disease Project for 2002, Version 5.

10 Additional data higher proportion of road users, and consequently have been provided by partner organizations around make up a larger proportion of those injured or the World and are included as case studies. killed on the roads. This document can be downloaded from the: This report focuses on young road users, defined y_prevention/. as those under 25 years of age. The document publications. highlights the main risk factors for road traffic injuries, noting how many of these risks are elevated in Youth . It stresses that successful prevention programmes can be put in place to protect young people, and presents examples of interventions from different geographic and cultural contexts that have been shown to be effective. road safety . Youth and road safet y 2 Young road users: a profile Which young road users are most East Asia Regions (2).