Road safety is assuming ever greater importance and attention as the world grapples with heavier traffic due to the dramatic increase in vehicles that are now on the roadways in almost every country. Consequently, the number of road accidents and fatalities are steadily climbing.
According to the experts the MENA region will register a growth of 67.5% in road fatalities between 2000 and 2020 whereas South Asia will see a rise of 143.9% in the same period.
Road fatalities in high income countries are expected to fall by 27.8% as compared to countries with lower incomes such as those in the MENA and South Asia region.
On a worldwide basis, road fatalities are expected to increase 66% between 2000 & 2020 with strong increases in the developing world and decreases in high-income countries. Currently, Asia has the highest percentage of worldwide traffic fatalities with the strongest increases projected as compared to the rest of the world according to a leading expert on the road industry who addressed the conference sessions organized in parallel with ROADEX 2006, the region’s largest road industry event.
“If we look at the road safety situation in terms of fatalities as a ratio to kilometers travelled, the developed countries have better statistics, due to developed infrastructure, perhaps better enforcement and more modern vehicles,” said Rik Nuyttens from 3M.
“The main message here is that a developed road infrastructure is needed to have a good road safety record and high quality signing is a key part of that.”
Road fatalities in Latin America and the Caribbean will register a 48% growth in 2020 as compared to 2000 whereas road deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa will rise 79% in the same period according to Nuyttens.
Figures release by the International Road Federation show that road deaths in Gulf countries cost between 1.5% and 2.5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In the UAE, road deaths cost 1.6% of the GDP, whereas in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait this figure is 2.4% and 1.8% respectively. As compared to these figures, the impact of road deaths on GDP is less than 0.75% in countries like the US, the UK, France and Germany.
‘Road deaths generally happen to people in their early 20s with the whole of their productive life ahead of them. Assuming a probable further life expectancy of 40 years and lost contribution to society and the economy, the impact of deaths thanks to road accidents is huge and this has proved to be a very significant burden on the economies of the region,’ said Wim Westerhuis, High Representative, International Road Federation (IRF).
In such a situation the world simply cannot afford to have added hazards on its roads. However, unfortunately the issue of stray animals on roadways has become a critical one and the number of accidents resulting from animals being on the roads is alarming.
According to the Jamaica Gleaner, motorists are up in arms about stray animals. The police report that, in 1999, 157 accidents involving animals were reported, which resulted in two fatalities.
Deputy Superintendent Herman Westcarr, who is in charge of Highway Patrol, told the government’s official news agency, JAMPRESS, that one person was killed in St. Thomas after a vehicle collided with a cow, while another person died in Hanover, as a result of an accident caused by a stray animal.
Mr. Westcarr noted that the parish recording the most accidents involving stray animals in 1999 was Clarendon with 44. This was followed by St. Thomas, 40; St. Ann and St. Elizabeth, 15 each; and St. Catherine, 14.
Up to May this year, the statistics reveal a total of 42 accidents involving stray animals, resulting in two deaths, one in St. Catherine and the other in Westmoreland.
For this year, the parishes with the most accidents involving stray animals are Clarendon with 20; St. Thomas, one; and Westmoreland, four.
Mr. Westcarr says that over the past year, at least three police vehicles have been damaged due to accidents caused by stray animals.
Deputy Superintendent Westcarr added that the legislation further states the person should have a red flag by day and a red lantern during the night.
He suggested that the legislation should be reviewed and amended urgently to get the animals off the streets, and that fines should be increased significantly.
Here too in Guyana the issue has become one of grave concern as stray animals continue to roam our roadways regularly and in this regard the recent passage of the Pounds (Amendment) Bill 2010, which seeks to increase the fee paid to a stray catcher or any other person, for every animal taken to a pound, from $1,000 to $5,000 is welcome but long overdue.
It amended Section 4 of the Pounds Act, Chapter 71:04, to raise it because the present fee is too low.
Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Clement Rohee, in moving the second reading said: “I do not believe that this amendment should attract any significant controversy.” He is definitely correct because the problem of stray animals being on our roads has been with us for a long time and is getting worse almost on a daily basis, particularly in certain parts of the country.