Traffic safety as a pre-requisite for sustainable urban transport: an international analysis

Nearly sixty percent of the world’s population lives in low and middle income countries (LMIC) and these countries include 62 of the largest 100 cities in the world. The urban growth rates in Asia, Africa and Latin America are higher than those in Europe and North America and so are the vehicle growth rates (World Health Organization, 1998). Data were collected for road traffic fatality rates for 56 cities to understand issues concerning road safety and sustainable transport issues. The results show that pedestrian fatality risk in LMIC is generally much higher than high-income countries. If risk for pedestrians is high, it will discourage walking and consequently use of public transport as the access trips are as pedestrians. This in turn will make it difficult to have cleaner air. Therefore, pedestrian safety becomes a pre condition for planning sustainable transport systems.

[1]  J. Jacobs.  The Death and Life of Great American Cities , 1962 .

[2]  Mart Saar,et al.  A study on gender equality as a prerequisite for sustainable development: what we know about the extent to which women globally live in a more sustainable way than men, leave a smaller ecological footprint and cause less climate change , 2007 .

[3]  E A Vasconcellos,et al.  Urban development and traffic accidents in Brazil. , 1999, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[4]  C. Dora,et al.  A different route to health: implications of transport policies , 1999, BMJ.

[5]  Geetam Tiwari.  Planning for non-motorized traffic: a prerequisite for sustainable transport system , 1999 .

[6]  Kai-Kuo Chang,et al.  Using data linkage to generate 30-day crash-fatality adjustment factors for Taiwan. , 2006, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[7]  John Pucher,et al.  Making Walking and Cycling Safer: Lessons from Europe , 2000 .

[8]  M. Cropper,et al.  Traffic Fatalities and Economic Growth , 2003, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[9]  Reid Ewing,et al.  Urban sprawl as a risk factor in motor vehicle occupant and pedestrian fatalities. , 2003, American journal of public health.

[10]  Dinesh Mohan,et al.  SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT SYSTEMS: LINKAGES BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES, PUBLIC TRANSPORT, NON-MOTORIZED TRANSPORT AND SAFETY , 2000 .

[11]  Dinesh Mohan.  Safety and Sustainable Urban Transport , 2005 .

[12]  J. Preston,et al.  Accessibility, mobility and transport-related social exclusion , 2007 .

[13]  D. Banister.  Unsustainable Transport: City Transport in the New Century , 2005 .

[14]  F Wegman,et al.  SUNFLOWER: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE DEVELOPMENTS OF ROAD SAFETY IN SWEDEN, THE UNITED KINGDOM, AND THE NETHERLANDS , 2002 .