Why Aren't We Listening Yet? A Decade of Road Safety Begins Quietly

Abstract

This Perspective discusses the following Essay published in PLOS Medicine: Redelmeier DA, McLellan BA (2013) Modern Medicine is Neglecting Road Traffic Crashes. PLoS Med 10(6): e10001463. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001463 Tracey Perez Koehlmoos offers a personal view on road traffic crashes and the disappointing lack of visibility of the WHO-led Decade of Action for Road Safety. The dogs bark, the bell rings, I shuffle to the door in my pajamas to discover a Jakarta police officer who stammers, “Madam, hospital.” Fifteen minutes later, the drawer slides open. Yes, that is my husband on the morgue tray. I touch his face; he is still warm. ‘Get up,’ I think. I kiss his forehead. ‘Get up!’ I want to shout. Larger than life, a force of nature — how can a great man fit in such a small space? Every plan, every hope, and every dream for the rest of my life died with him in the instant our car crumpled like an accordion, and so I become a widow of the road.... We should be alarmed by Redelmeier and McLellan's article in this week's PLOS Medicine that argues modern medicine is neglecting road traffic crashes. The issue of road safety is enormous—so enormous that perhaps it is easily forgotten as each among us hops into our car to drive to work, crosses the street to go to the store, or presses on with our daily life, unaware of the risk. Only 28 countries, accounting for just 7% of the world's population, have comprehensive road safety laws on five key risk factors: drinking and driving; speeding; and failing to use motorcycle helmets, seat-belts, and child restraints. There is a cache of proven, cost-effective interventions, such as speed bumps and lowering speed limits, but the pervasive lack of evidence from developing countries hinders the implementation of these strategies where they are most needed..... Language: en