Equity, social differentiation, transport policy and road design

Traffic accidents are a major public health problem, causing about 1.2 million deaths and 50 million injuries per year in the world, with a global cost of about US$ 500 billion (WHO, 2004). An estimated 85% of fatalities and 90% of the annual disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) occur in low-income and middle-income countries. The number of traffic fatalities in less developed countries in 2000 (613, 000) is estimated to rise by almost 100% by 2020 (to 1, 2 million fatalities) (WHO, 2004). Although human behaviour and road and vehicular characteristics are important factors, the way the built and travelling environments have been organised in developing countries plays a major role in traffic accidents and fatalities. The irresponsible, socially unacceptable way that travelling environments have been adapted for the increased use ofmotorised means, make them inherently dangerous for the majority of the population, and especially for those who are most vulnerable namely, pedestrians and cyclists. The failure to acknowledge the importance of the built environment, along with a persistent attempt at explaining accidents as just 'behaviour' faults, leads to faulty conclusions about the nature of the problem, and hence to less-than-optimal policy proposals, based solely on a small set of technical or enforcement measures. Alternative approaches would need to, firstly, acknowledge the crucial role of the travelling environment in directly affecting the nature of traffic conflicts and the probability of traffic accidents. Secondly, appropriate tools need to be developed, to analyse both current conditions and to propose new, safer travelling environments, where priority is given to the majority of users, and to the most vulnerable.