Road accident deaths at 1.35m a year — WHO

Road

accidents kill someone every 24 seconds, with a total of 1.35 million traffic deaths around the world each year, the World Health Organisation said yesterday, demanding global action.

The number of fatalities annually has swelled by around 100,000 in just three years, with road accidents now the leading killer of children and young people between the ages of five and 29, the UN health agency said in a new report. The WHO’s Global Status Report on Road Safety, based on data from 2016, showed that the situation is worsening. (AFP)