Ecuador’s worryingly high fatal crash rate

Ecuador’s shocking high road fatality rate is giving cause for concern. Official statistics compiled by the World Health Organisation (WHO) suggest that Ecuador is second only to Venezuela in Latin America with regard to fatalities on the road network. The WHO figures show that Ecuador has an average of 28 deaths/100,000 inhabitants from road crashes, well above the global average of 18 deaths/100,000 inhabitants. Only Venezuela’s even more startling figure of 37 deaths/100,000 inhabitants is higher in Lati
June 21, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Ecuador’s shocking high road fatality rate is giving cause for concern. Official statistics compiled by the 3263 World Health Organisation (WHO) suggest that Ecuador is second only to Venezuela in Latin America with regard to fatalities on the road network. The WHO figures show that Ecuador has an average of 28 deaths/100,000 inhabitants from road crashes, well above the global average of 18 deaths/100,000 inhabitants. Only Venezuela’s even more startling figure of 37 deaths/100,000 inhabitants is higher in Latin America. The report is based on 2010 data however and Justicia Vial, believes that the figure would be 32.4 deaths/100,000 inhabitants in Ecuador and 23 deaths/100,000 inhabitants as the average for Latin America if more recent statistics were used. Injuries from road traffic crashes are the main cause of death for children aged 5-14 and the second highest cause of death for people aged from 15-44. Ecuador's National Transit Agency (ANT) has also revealed that 50.09% of accidents could be attributed to either inexperience or careless driving. A further 13.2% are caused by a disregard for regulations, 12.31% by excessive speed, 9.73% by drinking, 7.69% by external conditions and 6.99% by the carelessness of others. The toll is particularly heavy on pedestrians, motorcyclists and cyclists and the latest information shows that the risk is by no means abating, with 308 people killed in road traffic crashes between January and February 2013. 

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Risk for elderly on Japanese roads
    January 7, 2016
    Japan’s National Police Agency has revealed that the country’s road death figures increased slightly in 2015 compared with 2014. Total road fatalities for Japan in 2015 stood at 4,117, an increase of 0.1% from the previous year. There were 536,789 crashes in Japan during 2015, which injured 665,126 people. Of particular concern is the data showing that traffic deaths for those aged 65 or over rose by 2.5% to 2,247 in all, a worrying 54.6% of the total road fatality figure. Official information has not so fa
    Read More
  • Over 1,300 US child road crash deaths in one year
    April 23, 2012
    A total of 1,314 American children aged 14 and under died in US road crashes in 2009, according to new research by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The NHTSA said 179,000 injuries had also been caused to the same child age group following 2009 crashes. The agency says safety seats in passenger cars had been found to reduce the risk of crash deaths for children of four-years-old and below by 54%, and infants by 71%.
    Read More
  • Improved road safety for Japan
    January 8, 2013
    Official figures from Japan reveal an improving situation with regard to road safety. According to data from the Japanese National Police Agency, traffic accident fatalities in 2012 fell 4.4% compared to the previous year. There were 4,411 deaths on Japan’s roads, the first time the annual road fatality rate has dropped below 4,500 since 1951. There has also been a noted drop in the numbers of fatalities related to people driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) at 252, the lowest this has been since 19
    Read More
  • Brake calls for tougher sentences for UK road death drivers
    May 28, 2014
    UK road safety charity Brake has renewed calls for tougher charges and penalties for drivers who kill and injure following the publication of British government criminal justice figures for 2013. The figures show the large proportion of drivers who kill and seriously injure being let off with relatively low penalties, reinforcing the importance of a forthcoming review of charges and penalties, recently announced by government. In total, 438 drivers were convicted of causing death or bodily harm. Just over
    Read More

Highlighted Content