European status report on road safety. Towards safer roads and healthier transport choices

In the WHO European Region alone, road crashes result annually in 120 000 deaths, 2.4 million injuries and a great economic burden. Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death among people 5–29 years old. Two WHO reports launched in 2004 and the ensuing advocacy activities have helped to raise global awareness of the problem of road traffic injuries and the evidence for effective prevention.

In 2008, WHO carried out a global assessment of road safety since then. This publication provides an overview of the results for the European Region and 49 country profiles on road safety, based on the data collected in the survey.

This baseline assessment of what has been done in countries to improve the road safety situation offers a strong tool for stimulating debate and action both nationally and internationally. It provides policy-makers and practitioners with the evidence they need to develop both healthier transport policies and multisectoral evidence-based strategies to prevent this leading cause of death and disability.

• Primary Source

WHO: Violence and Injury Prevention: Global status report on road safety 2009 http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2009/9789241563840_eng.pdf

WHO: Violence and Injury Prevention and Disability (VIP): World report on road traffic injury prevention http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2004/9241562609.pdf

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