Latin America, Caribbean, road safety concern

There is concern over road safety for Latin America and the Caribbean.
By MJ Woof September 12, 2024 Read time: 1 min
Latin America and the Caribbean nations need to address road safety to cut the annual death toll, with Mexico City being one of the key cities with a particularly poor record for road safety - image courtesy of © Dreamshot| Dreamstime.com

Poor road safety is a major concern for many of the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean. Data from the United Nations shows the scale of the problem. Annual road deaths for Latin America and the Caribbean countries total over 110,000. In addition, more than 5,000,000,000 people suffer injuries arising from road crashes.  

The United Nations introduced a target of halving road deaths between 2020 and 2030. But the Caribbean and Latin American nations have fallen behind schedule in achieving this target. More work is needed to boost road safety, cutting road deaths and injuries.

Driving under the influence (DUI) of drink or drugs and speeding are the key causes of crashes for Latin America and the Caribbean. Distracted driving is another major issue. 

The International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) is a registered charity dedicated to preventing the more than 3,500 road deaths that occur every day worldwide. And according data from iRAP, global road death and injuries cost US$3.6 trillion annually, equivalent to more than 3% of global GDP.

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