[sustran] S/E Asia: Road accidents will cost region 385, 000 lives and US$88 billion

[EcoPlan, Paris]

Asia must put brake on road deaths: ADB
 
2004/11/23
MANILA, Reuters
 
Roads in Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand are the deadliest in Southeast
Asia but accidents will cost the entire region 385,000 lives and US$88
billion in the next five years without a concerted plan for traffic
safety, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Monday. 
The Asia-Pacific region racks up 44 percent of the world's road deaths
each year, despite having just 14 percent of its vehicles, the
Manila-based bank said in a report to be discussed by transport
ministers meeting in Cambodia this week. 
Motorcycles figured prominently in crashes last year that killed 75,000
people, injured 4.7 million people and cost Southeast Asia about US$15
billion in economic losses, or 2.2 percent of the region's total gross
domestic product. 
"Official statistics grossly underestimate the actual numbers of persons
killed or injured in road accidents," the ADB said in a statement. 
"Such huge recurring losses are not sustainable and action has to be
taken to implement a regional strategy and action plan to promote road
safety." 
The ADB said it had helped the 10-member Association of South East Asian
Nations to draft a five-year program, based on successful road safety
schemes from around the world. Implementing the plan - which calls for
better analysis, a multi-sector approach and adequate resources - would
save 42,000 lives and US$10.6 billion in the region over the next five
years, the ADB said. The biggest discrepancies between police reports
and ADB research on the number of road deaths and injuries were in
Indonesia and the Philippines, the bank said. 
Singapore fares best, losing 0.5 percent of its GDP to road accidents
each year. Cambodia suffers the most, at 3.21 percent. 
Indonesia lost the most last year in economic terms at more than US$6
billion from its estimated 30,464 traffic deaths. 
Vietnam was second with 13,186 deaths last year, followed by Thailand at
13,116, the Philippines at 9,000 and Malaysia at 6,282. Singapore was
the safest place with 211 fatalities. 
 
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