Introduction to Road Safety

In 2007, Trinidad and Tobago had a total of 208 road deaths or 19.9 road deaths per 100,000 persons in the population. This rate of road fatalities in the population is on par with the worldwide rate but is still significantly higher than countries such as Ireland, with a rate of 8.2 deaths per 100000, and the United Kingdom which has a rate of 4.9 per 100,000. By the middle of December 2008, the total number of road deaths in Trinidad and Tobago had surpassed the 2007 total and stood at 226.

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According to the United Nations, approximately 1.3 million deaths occur yearly on the world’s roads. This number is comparable to fatalities from diseases like malaria and tuberculosis. An additional 20 to 50 million people worldwide sustain severe disabling injuries each year. Road traffic fatalities are the number one killer of people aged 10 to 24 years. Worldwide, more than one in ten road deaths take place in developing nations such as Trinidad and Tobago. The number fatalities in the developing world is projected to increase steadily in the coming decades as the number of motor vehicles continues to rise with the increased development in these nations. The World Health Organization estimates the annual worldwide economic costs of road traffic crashes at US $518 billion.

In Trinidad and Tobago, there are specific factors that contribute to the high rate of road fatalities. These factors include a lack of safety belt use, drinking and driving and failure to observe basic safety rules. Most road accidents involve a collision of some type. That is, a collision between a motor vehicle and another object, most commonly another motor vehicle but sometimes a wall, tree or pedestrian. So why are road collisions so deadly? One way to illustrate this is to imagine pushing a car off of a two storey building, the force with which it hits the ground is the same as a car colliding with something at about 48 km/h. If the speed is doubled to 96 km/h the comparable falling distance of a motor vehicle is 11 stories. The destruction to the vehicle and injury to the occupants, in either of these scenarios is easy to visualise and highlights why it is important to keep in mind the destructive potential of motor vehicle collisions.

References:

1. Trinidad Guardian, Friday 17th October 2008.

2. United Nations General Assembly Session on Global Road Safety, U.N. Headquarters, New York, March 31, 2008; Executive Summary (Prepared by the Global Road Safety Forum).
   http://www.globalroadsafety.org/downloads/March%2031%20Summary%20FINAL.pdf

Written: March 2009