Transportation
A Global Geography of Death on the Road
A new World Health Organization interactive shows where laws are protecting drivers, cyclists, and walkers—and where they’re not.
Earlier this month, CityLab’s Richard Florida broke down yet another of America’s disturbing geographical divides: states that experience high numbers of traffic fatalities, and states that don’t.
Now, from the World Health Organization, comes this year’s report on the state of road deaths worldwide. Using data from each participating country’s own transportation administrators, WHO concludes that about 1.25 million people died on the world’s roads in 2013. At roughly 0.018 percent of the Earth’s entire population, this sounds like a small number, but road traffic is the world’s leading cause of death among young people ages 15 to 29.