Print version ISSN 0042-9686 Bull World Health Organ vol.87 n.10
Genebra Oct. 2009 Tami Toroyan*; Margie Peden Department of
Violence and Injury Prevention and Disability, World Health
Organization, 20 avenue Appia, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland Road
traffic injuries are a leading public health problem, resulting
in over 1.2 million deaths each year.1 They affect all age
groups but their impact is most striking among the young: they
are the leading cause of death globally for those between the
ages of 15 and 29. While road traffic death rates in many high-
income countries have stabilized or declined in recent decades,
data suggest that in most regions of the world they are
increasing as a result of rapidly increasing motorization
combined with insufficient prevention activities. It has been
estimated that, unless immediate action is taken, road deaths
will rise to become the fifth leading cause of death by 2030,
resulting in an estimated 2.4 million fatalities per year.1,2
The attention given by policymakers an