The Dominican Republic is the country with the second highest rate of traffic accident fatalities per capita, of the 182 United Nations member states. The DR has a rate of 41.7 fatalities per 100,000 and it is only preceded by the Pacific island nation of Niue, which has 68.3. The estimates are published by the World Health Organization in their recently released its Global Status Report on Road Safety 2013,” posted on their webpage, with data collected in 2010. With 41.7 traffic fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants, the Dominican Republic also surpasses the average for the Americas, which is 16.1.<\/p>\n
“Half of the traffic deaths in the world affect pedestrians (22%), cyclists (5%) and motorcyclists (23%), the so-called vulnerable users of the public roads,” says the report. The comparative information published by the WHO approaches the numbers published in the country by the Dignity Network Foundation (Fundared) – in a report published in 2011 – which is headed by a former deputy minister of Public Works, Mario Holguin. At the time, Fundared estimated that in the Western Hemisphere, the Dominican Republic was the country with the highest rate of fatalities, with 34.6 traffic deaths for every 100,000 inhabitants.<\/p>\n
With a vehicular fleet of 2,917,573 in 2011, and over half of them motorcycles, the high number of road accidents in the country is attributed to a lack of awareness and carelessness on the part of many drivers and the absence of driver’s education. The high-speed roads that lead to the capital, such as the Las Americas and Duarte Highways, are among the most dangerous. The WHO advises member countries to work on legislation covering highway safety (only 28 countries have integrated laws), improve traffic infrastructure, regulations for vehicles and treatment for people injured in accidents, as well as to coordinate the notification of information on injuries caused by traffic accidents.<\/p>\n
www.who.int\/mediacentre\/news\/releases\/2013\/road_safety_20130314\/en\/index.html<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.who.int\/violence_injury_prevention\/road_safety_status\/2013\/en\/index.html<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Dominican Republic is the country with the second highest rate of traffic accident fatalities per capita, of the 182 United Nations member states. The DR has a rate of 41.7 fatalities per 100,000 and it is only preceded by the Pacific island nation of Niue, which has 68.3. The estimates are published by the … <\/p>\n