The Campaign for Global Road Safety, today released a first-of-its-kind analysis of State Department data that ranks road crashes as the leading cause of death for healthy Americans traveling abroad...
The majority of the deaths (77%) were in low-and middle-income countries. Among road crashes by type, the greatest number occurred in automobiles (73%) followed by motorcycles (12%), and pedestrians (7%).
“When we travel, we protect ourselves with vaccines and we’re careful about what we eat and drink, but the real hidden danger is being killed on the road,” said Dr. Bella Dinh-Zarr, North American Director of Make Roads Safe and author of the new report. “The death of Americans on roads overseas is just one symptom of the road crash epidemic around the world,” added Dinh-Zarr. “This is a public health, transportation, and human rights issue. And we’re not just talking about numbers – each death and injury has a devastating effect on a family so we need to act now or millions will suffer.”
And so who was Leo? He was an old classmate of mine. We were in school together, from kindergarten right through graduation.
Full story here.
“When we travel, we protect ourselves with vaccines and we’re careful about what we eat and drink, but the real hidden danger is being killed on the road,” said Dr. Bella Dinh-Zarr, North American Director of Make Roads Safe and author of the new report. “The death of Americans on roads overseas is just one symptom of the road crash epidemic around the world,” added Dinh-Zarr. “This is a public health, transportation, and human rights issue. And we’re not just talking about numbers – each death and injury has a devastating effect on a family so we need to act now or millions will suffer.”
And so who was Leo? He was an old classmate of mine. We were in school together, from kindergarten right through graduation.
Full story here.
estreka says:
10:31 AM, 04/26/07
We talk about how bad American drivers are, but in truth, most countries are far worse.
rsholland says:
10:38 AM, 04/26/07
I also think Americans aren't used to driving in Europe, as European driving styles differ greatly from here. I know when I spent 3 weeks driving in the UK, not only did I have to get used to driving on the other side of the road, but I found what's "accepted" over there is much different than here. For example, drivers don't think twice about passing with oncoming traffic approaching on 2-lane roads. That was an eye-opener!
mirth says:
12:13 PM, 04/26/07
Question: when the cause of death overseas is a car, is it because of a car bomb?
desmolicious says:
01:03 PM, 04/26/07
AUTHOR: desmolicious
DATE: 04/26/2007 01:03:27 PM
EMAIL: husshardan@yahoo.com
carlisimo says:
05:51 PM, 04/26/07
My condolences, Bob.
In much of the world, driver's front airbags are an option, engines are small and therefore car structures are light. It's like stepping back in time here, without the commensurate drop in traffic.
210delray says:
08:52 PM, 04/26/07
My condolences also.
I'm glad to see the problem called a "road crash epidemic" which of course it is. These are not "accidents" as in unpredictable random events, fate, "your number's up," acts of God, or whatever superstition people happen to believe in.
And these are crashes, not car bombs, the latter probably accounting for only a tiny fraction of the deaths worldwide.
mirth says:
09:25 AM, 04/27/07
I was being facetious. ;-)
ateixeira says:
10:49 AM, 04/27/07
I have a license in Brazil, but I choose not to drive. It's pretty crazy. A lot of people there simply do no obey traffic laws. 3 lanes become 4, as if the lane marking mean nothing. People also run red lights.
I happily let my brothers drive me around when I visit.