Why in News?

•  Road accidents are the leading cause of death among people in the 5-29 age-group worldwide with more than 1.35 million lives lost each year and 50 million sustaining injuries, according to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report

Details of the Report:

• Global Status Report on Road Safety is released by WHO  Since 2008 India have maintained dubious distinction of being world number one in road crash deaths.
•  In 2015, India became a signatory to the Brasilia Declaration on Road Safety, where India committed to halving road crash deaths by 2020.
•  As per the data released by the Indian government, road crashes kill close to 1,50,000 people each year. However, the WHO global status report on road safety had challenged the numbers and stated that India might be losing over 2,99,000 people each year.
•  Road crashes have emerged as the single biggest killer of people in the age group of 15-45.
•  The reasons listed for this trend include — rapid urbanisation, poor safety, lack of enforcement, distracted, influence of drugs or alcohol, speeding and a failure to wear seat-belts or helmets, according to experts.