To address the growing number of road traffic accidents, loss of lives and economic damage, Ethiopian Transport Authority along with YENA Business Promotion organized the 1st Ethio Traffic Conference in Addis Ababa in January.
Twenty traffic accidents occur in Addis Ababa per day while on average, 3,500 people die due to traffic accidents every year in Ethiopia. Furthermore, over 5,000 people on average are crippled or injured each year. The economic loss of the traffic accident yearly is estimated more than half a billion Birr (around $23 million). January
“The goal of the 2017 conference is to showcase the best practices in the use of the Safe System Approach towards creating safer communities for all road users to reduce fatalities and serious injuries on Ethiopia’s roads to zero,” said Mr. Sisay Haile, the Chair of the Conference.
During the daylong January 4, 2017 conference, a number of researches that focus on the progress of Road traffic accidents & safety measures in Ethiopia will be presented in detail.
Furthermore, issues like, securing safe driving, ensuring vehicle safety, maintaining road traffic order, enhancing comprehensive study to investigate the causes of traffic accidents and other related issues will be presented to stake-holders (higher education institutions representatives, governmental officials, legislators, intellectuals and media agents), according to the organizers.
Globally
Road traffic crashes are the second leading cause of death globally among young people aged 5 to 29 years and the third leading cause of death among people aged 30 to 44 years. Behind each statistic there is a story of a father or mother, son or daughter, brother or sister, grandchild, colleague, classmate or friend whose life was transformed in an instant by a road crash.
It is estimated that developing countries currently lose in the region of $100 billion every year. This is almost twice as much as the total development assistance received worldwide by the developing countries. These losses undoubtedly inhibit the economic and social development of developing countries.
According in to the World Health Organization (WHO) Road traffic crashes take the lives of nearly 1.3 million people every year, and disable millions more. Around 90% of road traffic deaths and injuries take place in low-income and middle income countries.