Road accidents cause billions of dollars in damages each year, and nearly 1 in 3 people are injured in them. In the United States, road accidents kill 38,000 people each year, and 4.4 million need medical attention. As a result, the US leads all high-income countries for automobile deaths, with 50% more accidents than their peers. Moreover, the number of car accidents is higher in Africa than anywhere else in the world. In developing countries, almost three million people are injured every year, with three to six million resulting in death.
In 2020, 62 percent of all fatal crashes involved passenger cars. Three-four percent of those accidents killed pedestrians and motorcyclists. Only two percent of fatal crashes involved large trucks. In developing countries, pedestrians are more likely to be involved in accidents than drivers. However, this trend doesn’t mean that all accidents occur on roads. For example, in South East Asia, the rate of fatal crashes among children under four years was almost double the rate in North America.
Most road accidents worldwide result in a death. Pedestrians make up more than half of fatalities, while drivers make up less than 10 percent. Pedestrians, however, account for between fifty and seventy percent of fatalities in urban areas. Nevertheless, pedestrians also face considerable suffering in road accidents. In many cases, the failure to wear a motorcycle helmet is responsible for most of these accidents. However, there is some good news for those who ride in an Uber or take a taxi.
