New report: The Day Our World Crumbled: The Human Cost of Inaction on Road Safety.

19 February 2020

Story from the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety.

The Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety (the Alliance) has launched its new report The Day Our World Crumbled: The Human Cost of Inaction on Road Safety. The report, which is based on a survey of 5,606 people from 132 countries, focuses on the devastating impact that road crashes have on the lives of road victims, their families, and the wider community. 

The report shows that road crashes affect a lot of people multiple times through their lives, and the consequences are far-reaching. Notably, you do not have to be in the vehicle to be affected by a crash; the emotional, financial, and other impacts can also have a damaging effect on the friends and family of crash victims. Moreover, many people feel unsafe as road users, regardless of whether they have experienced a crash or not. 

In the report, statistical analysis of the survey data is combined with the powerful testimonies of crash victims and their families. The data paints a picture of the complex ways that road crashes affect lives: health, finance, relationships, justice, and more. Crashes cannot be compartmentalized as a single event and often lead to a series of negative outcomes that can change the course of a victim and their family’s lives. Those without formal education are more sharply affected, reporting higher frequency of losing their job or income, of staying home to care for an injured victim, of incurring a disability as a result of a crash, and of their or their children’s abandoning school. Road crashes, therefore, are perpetuating social inequality. 

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