Skip to main content

Chilean road safety concern

Concern is being expressed in Chile with regard to its worsening rate of road traffic deaths. The fatality rate hit 16,157 for the 2005-2014 period. Of these 6,198 (38%) were run over, including 597 during 2014. The majority of cases where people were killed in road traffic crashes during 2014 took place in central southern cities, such as Concepcion (298 deaths), followed by Temuco (292) and Puerto Montt (259) as well as communes such as Puente Alto (237), San Bernardo (281) and Valparaiso (216). Males acc
September 8, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Concern is being expressed in Chile with regard to its worsening rate of road traffic deaths. The fatality rate hit 16,157 for the 2005-2014 period. Of these 6,198 (38%) were run over, including 597 during 2014. The majority of cases where people were killed in road traffic crashes during 2014 took place in central southern cities, such as Concepcion (298 deaths), followed by Temuco (292) and Puerto Montt (259) as well as communes such as Puente Alto (237), San Bernardo (281) and Valparaiso (216). Males accounted for the majority of road traffic deaths in the last decade, at 67%. During 2014, 54% of the 597 fatalities were of males. New measures will be introduced under new road traffic laws to lower crash rates, including traffic calming in residential and busy pedestrian areas as well as schools. Experts consider that some of the main factors linked to people being run over include low light levels, involving either a lack of street lights or a lack of natural sunlight, as well as fog and rain.

Related Content

  • Tunnel project of Chilean capital Santiago
    April 8, 2015
    Tunnel construction in Chilean capital Santiago will help cut chronic congestion – Mauro Nogarin & Mike Woof write. Chile’s capital Santiago is a thriving city having benefited from the country’s economy growing strongly in recent years. The massive copper mining sector has helped boost the country’s GDP significantly in the past few decades, also aided by the growing international reputation of Chile’s large wine industry. The steady economic growth has resulted in an equally steady growth in average incom
  • Concern at worsening road safety worldwide
    May 22, 2019
    The latest road safety data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) provides a serious cause for concern. The annual global road fatality rate has increased in the three years since the WHO last carried out a study of worldwide crash statistics. The report says that 1.35 million people are now killed on the world’s roads every year, compared with a figure of 1.25 million three years ago. The problem is particularly acute in the developing world, where increasing vehicle numbers combine with poor levels
  • Better road safety can save lives worldwide
    January 24, 2017
    Road safety is an issue that rarely grabs headlines, although it is something that affects people around the globe. Road deaths account for a shockingly high percentage of deaths worldwide, with the risks being particularly high in developing countries. This poses such a threat to public health that the United Nations has been taking steps to address the issue, commencing with its Decade of Action on Road Safety in 2010. The focus has been on developing countries, due to the rapid increase in road deaths in
  • Poor road safety causes too many deaths
    December 13, 2016
    Road safety is an issue that rarely grabs headlines, although it is something that affects people around the globe. Road deaths account for a shockingly high percentage of deaths worldwide, with the risks being particularly high in developing countries. This poses such a threat to public health that the United Nations has been taking steps to address the issue, commencing with its Decade of Action on Road Safety in 2010. The focus has been on developing countries, due to the rapid increase in road deaths in