AN OVERVIEW OF ROAD SAFETY IN LEBANON

Abstract

Road traffic injuries are a growing public health and development problem. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1.2 million people are killed in road traffic crashes around the world each year. Most of those killed are in the prime of their lives. The road traffic deaths represent a picture of the total waste of human and societal resources from road injuries. Between 20 and 50 million people are injured or disabled by road crashes around the world (WHO, 2012). In Lebanon, a Middle Eastern country, over 1000 people are killed every year, with nearly onethird involving vulnerable road users like pedestrians and motorcyclists. More than twice as many are permanently disabled by their injuries. These statistics need to be multiplied and seen in the context of deep family tragedy, of unimaginable grief and anguish, and of tremendous health and economic and disability costs.