Unsafe roads annually cost $34 billion to Russia – World Bank

WASHINGTON, November 29 (Itar-Tass) -- Unsafe road traffic conditions in the countries of Europe and Central Asia have tremendous adverse implications for their economic and social well-being, the World Bank said.

“Road traffic injuries are already among the top ten causes of death and disability in Europe and Central Asia and the trend is worsening,” said Abdo Yazbeck, World Bank Health Sector Manager for the Europe and Central Asia. “Human impact of traffic crashes is enormous. Families are being driven into poverty because of the death of their breadwinner or the mounting costs of medical care and rehabilitation for accident victims. But the growing magnitude of the problem is also bringing a national dimension to it, contributing to the demographic crisis and imposing additional burdens on country economies which lose billions of dollars every year as a result of traffic injuries and fatalities”.

In Europe and Central Asia, the highest estimated annual costs to governments are in the large economies that also have sizeable populations: Russia ($34 billion per year), Turkey ($14 billion), Poland ($10 billion), and Ukraine ($5 billion). A combination of weak road safety management capacity, deteriorated roads, unsafe vehicles, poor driver behavior, and patchy enforcement of road safety laws, alongside exponential growth in the number of vehicles, are the key factors contributing to road traffic injuries and fatalities multiplying at a rapid pace, the World Bank said.