Road traffic crashes leading cause of death among young people

Road traffic crashes leading cause of death among young people

www.who.int

Road traffic crashes are the leading cause of death among young people between 10 and 24 years, according to a new report published by WHO. The report, Youth and Road Safety, says that nearly 400,000 young people under the age of 25 are killed in road traffic crashes every year. Millions more are injured or disabled. Road traffic collisions cost an estimated US$ 518 billion globally in material, health and other expenditure.

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Forget wars, forget terrorism, forget firearms, forget drugs - as it looks like, the leading cause of death among young people these days is road traffic crashes. Now I come from a country, where road traffic deaths are very high, regarding the number of population and the number of road crashes which happen. But as I read this numbers, that almost half a million of young people at the best age of their life, 25, are getting killed every year I can see where the real weapons of mass destruction are: on the many roads. And we are driving them!

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this actually doesn't surprise me as i am constantly jaw-droppingly astounded at the amount of pedestrians and cyclists that will step or pull out right in front of you without once looking to see whats there.

in the country i live in, pushbikes and pedestrians have priority on most roads and you are supposed to give way for them. because of this, the people have become so complacent that they literally will not briefly turn their heads to save their lives!

really - how can you blame someone for not adhering to the highway code when you are dead? what if visiting person driving in your country doesn't know that the cyclist has priority on the road (which is the case most countries)?

i really cannot get into these people heads to understand why so many people will step out in front of fast moving vehicles without a single thought as to the consequences of them doing so. have their lives so little value? have they become so wrapped up in the trivialities of their own thoughts that nothing else matters?

can anyone explain why people would do this?

Originally posted by justyc
this actually doesn't surprise me as i am constantly jaw-droppingly astounded at the amount of pedestrians and cyclists that will step or pull out right in front of you without once looking to see whats there.

in the country i live in, pushbikes and pedestrians have priority on most roads and you are supposed to give way for them. because of this, the people have become so complacent that they literally will not briefly turn their heads to save their lives!

really - how can you blame someone for not adhering to the highway code when you are dead? what if visiting person driving in your country doesn't know that the cyclist has priority on the road (which is the case most countries)?

i really cannot get into these people heads to understand why so many people will step out in front of fast moving vehicles without a single thought as to the consequences of them doing so. have their lives so little value? have they become so wrapped up in the trivialities of their own thoughts that nothing else matters?

can anyone explain why people would do this?

OK, in the city I always go with my bike and not with the car, because it is an extremly BAD idea, since you shall always get stuck in a traffic jam and you shall never get a parking space when you need one - and then you shall park in a wrong zone and get a ticket of course. So I say - drive bikes in the city! Anyway, where I live - Slovenia - there are special parts of the road especially for cyclists right beside pedestrians and usually not on the major road; which means that most of the cyclists are actually not in the real car traffic, but usually somewhere besides it. And when they are on the road, they are bound to the same laws as any other vehicle - they do not have any priority over anybody and have to obey same road signs as everyone does.

But here is another problem - alcohol and speedy driving. Most of the accidents happen this way, when a drunk, over confident young driver, who borrowed his daddy's car (probably a very good one!) crashes in to a not so well made, old car (like Yugo or Renault 4) and kills everyone inside, but usually survies the crash. I have seen this happen many times here - yet people still get drunk and then drive home with their cars. Of course, very fast. Which usually means casualties...

have you ever thought that those of us who grew up learning to
drive in cars with no power steering,and all the mod cons that go with
todays cars,maybe better equiped to handle traffic and its inherant problems?
many a time i have seen young drivers,fail to look at what is beside them(in
a twin lane scenario) and try to merge to the lane next to them,
while there is a car right next to them, thus forcing the other car to take
evasive action to avoid a collision.
i drive heavy machinery on the road(front end loader)to and from varios jobs,
it never ceases to amaze me the amount of morons who risk their lives, cutting in front, or overtaking when clearly dangerous, the brain is trully a singular
object,what 1 person see's as dangerous(clearly) another see's as a
challenge??? a thrill??? a situation to conquer???
i have no idea, but i do know, driving on perth roads , i will never cease to
be amazed....

Here in the UK it astounds me how incredibly stupid some kids can be. I see all the time these idiots deliberately starting to cross a road, slowly and diagonally whilst staring at the driver of the oncoming vehicle.
I often feel like stopping the car and giving them a swift kick up the rear. Maybe it's a form or Darwinism, which the motorist is always going to win

Another thing is the idiots, many of whom have just passed their test, thinking they are proficient drivers after years playing on an Xbox or PS2 and watching The Fast and The Furious a dozen times
I see this all the time and some of these bozos are a danger to everyone else around them. Unfortunately, with more and more speed cameras and fewer police on the roads they are getting away with driving like idiots.

Personally, I drive like a Nun.... all the time....honest!

Anyhoos, I'm far too old to be racing about and more interested in keeping myself, my car and my license intact.

souljah, all the roads here have bike only lanes on one or both sides of the road (it is a very bike-orientated society which is a good thing imho) yet because of this many still will ride 2,3 and even 4 abreast in the road without a care for what is behind them.

alcohol and boy racer accidents i can understand but not totally sober people! they have no excuse whatsoever.