ROAD SAFETY AND MEDIA REPORTING Road traffic crashes are often covered in the media simply as eventsnot as a leading killer of people and an enormous drain on a country’s human, health and financial resources. By framing road safety as a healthand development story, with data and in-depth information, journalists have the opportunity to affect the waythese stories are told and potentially to help shift public behaviour and attitudes, influence policy and therefore contribute towards saving lives.

WHY ARE ROAD TRAFFIC

INJURIES A PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE?

Road traffic injuries and deaths have a terrible

impact on individuals, communities and

countries. They involve massive costs to often

overburdened health care systems, occupy scarce

hospital beds, consume resources and result in

significant losses of productivity and prosperity,

with deep social and economic repercussions.

The numbers speak for themselves: this is a

public health and development crisis that is

expected to worsen unless action is taken.

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