Road Traffic Accident Trend in Developing Countries- The Policy Implications

Abstract

About 1.3 million lose their life worldwide, and this is set to double by 2030 if status quo continues. It is the developing countries which account for overwhelming part of the current fatalities, and forecasted accident fatalities. There are local as well global initiatives to address the safety issues, in developing countries in particular. However, there are emerging issues in developing countries that may result in safety trend different from that of industrialized countries. This has huge policy implication as it may make innovative measures inevitable. Therefore, to address the safety issues effectively it is necessary to grasp its nature and trend in developing countries. This paper analyses the dynamics in traffic accident trend in Asian countries, re-evaluates the current traffic safety approaches for strategic policy recommendations for emerging trends in the region.