INGENIEUR
INGENIEUR
as the name suggests, is envisioned to be a transformation of existing road assessment practices in ASEAN countries into a programme that is sustainable for the benefit of society.
REFERENCE
International Road Assessment Programme.( 2008). Vaccines for Roads: The new iRAP tools and their pilot application. United Kingdom.
International Road Assessment Programme.( 2009). Malaysia: iRAP Results 2009. United Kingdom.
Royal Malaysian Police.( 2015). Statistical Report Road Accident 2015. Percetakan Nasional Malaysia Berhad. Kuala Lumpur.
World Health Organization.( 2013). Global Status Report on Road Safety 2013: Supporting a decade of action. Luxembourg.
Do You Know?
Road Safety
By Pang Soo Mooi
India banned the sale of booze within
500m of national and state highways starting April 2017 to reduce alcohol-fuelled road accidents.( WSJ, April 25, 2017).
Approximately one billion vehicles are on the world’ s roads, and that number is expected to double soon. About 1.25 million people die each year as a result of traffic accidents, and up to 50 million sustain non-fatal injuries. Moreover, road traffic accidents cost at least 1 % of the world’ s Gross Domestic Product( GDP), or roughly US $ 750 billion per year.( United Nations)
Only 28 countries, which represent 449 million people( 7 % of the world’ s population), have adequate laws that address all five risk factors( speed, drunk – driving, helmets, seat-belts and child restraints). Over a third of road traffic deaths in low- and middle-income countries are among pedestrians and cyclists.( World Health Organisation, or WHO)
Nearly 80 % of pedestrians do not survive accidents involving a car moving at a speed of 50km per hour or above. At 30km per hour however, 90 % are expected survive. Half of the world’ s road traffic deaths occur among three key vulnerable user groups: motorcyclists( 23 %), pedestrians( 22 %) and cyclists( 5 %).( United Nations Economic Commission for Europe or UNECE)
There is a four-fold increase in crash risk when
14 VOL 70 APRIL-JUNE 2017 talking on a mobile phone while driving. Legislation prohibiting the use of hand-held phones while driving exists in 139 countries while a further 31 countries prohibit both hand-held and hands-free phones.
In European countries alone, about 75 % of deaths among motorcycle users result from head injuries. Motorcyclists wearing standard, good quality helmets can pay big safety dividends: such helmets can reduce the risk of death by 40 % and the risk of serious head injuries by over 70 %.( UNECE)
Infants have relatively large and heavy heads in relation to their bodies. That is why this group of‘ road users’ should travel in restraints placed opposite to the driving direction to reduce the risk of severe injuries during hard braking.( UNECE)
The risk of dying in the front seat during a car crash increases five-fold if passengers in the back do not wear seat belts. That is why it is so important to buckle up especially in the back seat.( UNECE) Globally, approximately 62 % of reported road traffic deaths occur in 10 countries – which in order of magnitude are India, China, US, Russia, Brazil, Iran, Mexico, Indonesia, South Africa and Egypt. However, based on modelled numbers, the 10 countries with the highest number of deaths are China, India, Nigeria, US, Pakistan, Indonesia, Russia, Brazil, Egypt and Ethiopia.( WHO)
A 5 % cut in average speed can result in a reduction in the number of fatal road traffic accidents.( WHO)