Download G20 infrastructure investment can save 40,000,000 people

G20 infrastructure investment
can save 40,000,000 people
The facts

Road crashes are the biggest killer of young people aged 5-24 in the world. Road crashes kill and injure
an estimated 30-50 million people every year, or more than 100,000 people each day. 31% of all deaths
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are car occupants, 23% are motorcyclists and 22% are pedestrians.

265,000,000 people will be killed and seriously injured worldwide over the next 15 years. That is more
than: the combined populations of Australia, Mexico, South Africa and the UK; the population of
Indonesia; or 85% of the US population.

G20 countries include some of the best and worst road safety performers. They account for 60% of all
global road deaths (760,000 out of 1.24 million per year) or an estimated 8,350,000 deaths and serious
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injuries a year.

Road death and serious injury in G20 countries has an estimated economic cost of $1.5 trillion a year, or
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an average of 2.8% of each country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The proposed UN Sustainable Development Goals will shape action for the next 15 years. Halving road
deaths is one of the draft targets (goal 3.6). Investing in infrastructure to create growth and jobs (goal 9.1)
and safe and sustainable transport (goal 11.2) each reinforce the humanitarian, economic and
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sustainable development opportunity from improved road safety outcomes.
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What the G20 can achieve

The G20 is focussing on investment and infrastructure.
Investment in road infrastructure safety
improvements will support economic growth, job creation and productivity improvements.

Road crashes cost 2-5% of GDP. Investment in safer roads will deliver more than $8 of benefits for
every $1 invested. The burden on health, emergency services, social support and business will be lifted.

Improving the Star Ratings of high-risk roads across the world has the potential to prevent more than
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40,000,000 deaths and serious injuries and unlock more than US$5,000 billion of benefits.
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iRAP’s investment and infrastructure recommendations for G20 leaders

Support the proposed UN post-2015 Sustainable Development Goal to halve road traffic deaths.

Invest more than 0.1% of GDP per year in targeted road infrastructure safety upgrades that
improve the star rating of roads for pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and vehicle occupants
worldwide.

Adopt a target of “No 1 or 2-star roads by 2030”, which will provide the transparent global policy
metric to drive public and private sector investment in safer road infrastructure (e.g. pension
funds and Social Impact Bonds).
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The role of safer infrastructure

Road infrastructure safety worldwide is poor
with more than half of roads assessed by
iRAP rating just one or two-stars (out of a
8
possible 5-stars).
Crash costs are approximately halved for
each incremental improvement in Star
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Rating.
$0.16
$0.14
$0.12
Crash cost

$0.10
Vehicle occupant Star Ratings and
fatal and serious injury crash costs per
vehicle kilometre travelled
$0.08
$0.06
$0.04
$0.02

Often more than half of all road deaths
$0.00
1-star
2-star
3-star
4-star
5-star
happen on less than 10% of a country’s road
network. In India in 2013 for example, 33%
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of deaths occurred on national highways which account for just 3% of all roads. Targeting investment
to these high-risk roads can generate large returns.

Road crashes are a primary cause of workplace death and injury.
and economic competitiveness is significant.

Countries leading in road safety already have targets to eliminate one and two-star roads (e.g.
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Netherlands) or lift national highways to four-stars (e.g. New Zealand).

The World Bank and Asian Development Bank are successfully trialling use of Star Ratings targets for all
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road users in new road designs.

Building safer roads is simple. People are killed as pedestrians and cyclists moving along or across the
road, or in head-on, run-off road and intersection crashes as vehicle occupants or motorcyclists. All
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crash types have cost-effective and high return infrastructure solutions.

Countries performing well in road safety typically have a higher proportion of travel on safer roads with
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better Star Ratings.
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The negative impact on business
Policy and investment potential

A job-creating worldwide investment in infrastructure safety to improve the Star Rating of roads could
save 40,000,000 deaths and serious injuries for an investment of $681 billion (or 0.1% of GDP per year
for 10 years). More than $8 of benefit to the economy and health systems will be unlocked for every $1
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invested.

The SLoCaT partnership has recommended a target for “No 1 or 2-star roads by 2030” as part of
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achieving the proposed UN SDG goal to halve road deaths.

G20 countries are the major shareholders and capital providers for the World Bank and other multilateral development banks that fund road projects in low and middle-income countries. Ensuring all
Bank funded projects are built to minimum three-star standard will save lives, reduce the burden on
health systems and help ensure development is sustainable.

The G8 work on Social Impact Bonds, and the UK Government lead on Development Impact Bonds
provides a framework for government and pension fund investment in road infrastructure safety
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improvements. The use of before and after Star Ratings as the performance metric can provide the
mechanism to unlock this high-return investment globally.

New upgrades can be celebrated immediately as new four and five-star roads are opened to the public.
This has the potential to build a transparent and community-wide appreciation of the importance and
success of safer roads.
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A business case for G20 and global investment
This simple analysis helps to illustrate the 20 year benefits - in terms of deaths and serious injuries
prevented and economic savings - that could be achieved by improving the safety of all road users on the
highest volume 10% of roads in each country.
For more information, visit: http://irap.org/en/about-irap-2/a-business-case-for-safer-roads.
Country
Population
(million)
(per 100,000
population)
Annual cost
of fatalities
and serious
injuries as a
percentage
of GDP
Potential
reduction in
fatalities and
serious
injuries over
20 years
Economic
benefit of
reduction in
fatalities and
serious
injuries over
20 years
a
(billion)
Annual
fatalities
Benefit cost
ratio
Argentina
40
12.6
3.1%
168,100
$32.8
9
Australia
22
6.1
1.5%
45,000
$49.8
2
Brazil
195
22.5
5.5%
1,447,700
$339.9
14
Canada
34
6.7
1.7%
75,800
$66.4
2
1,349
20.5
5.0%
9,107,400
$1,340.4
22
237
8.2
1.7%
644,200
$243.5
3
France
63
6.4
1.6%
131,700
$92.6
3
Germany
82
4.7
1.1%
126,400
$91.5
5
1,225
18.9
4.6%
7,623,900
$241.7
7
Indonesia
240
17.7
4.3%
1,400,300
$108.9
25
Italy
61
7.2
1.8%
144,200
$79.0
5
Japan
127
5.2
1.3%
218,600
$150.8
4
Mexico
113
14.7
3.6%
551,600
$108.0
20
Republic of Korea
48
14.1
3.4%
223,900
$107.4
35
Russian Federation
143
18.6
4.6%
876,700
$280.4
19
Saudi Arabia
27
24.8
6.1%
224,400
$91.1
14
South Africa
50
31.9
7.8%
527,800
$65.8
12
Turkey
73
12.0
2.9%
289,000
$61.9
12
United Kingdom
62
3.7
0.9%
75,200
$49.3
4
United States of America
310
11.4
2.8%
1,171,200
$1,083.6
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G20 Total
4,500
16.9
2.8%
25,073,100
$4,685.1
8
Global Total
6,800
18.1
3.0%
40,458,000
$5,715.2
8
China
European Union
b
India
a
b
billion = 1,000,000,000
Excluding France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom which are listed separately.
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About iRAP
iRAP is a UK registered charity with a vision for a world free of high-risk roads.
Charity # 1140357. iRAP acknowledges the generous support of the FIA
Foundation and the Road Safety Fund.
Contact
Rob McInerney
iRAP Chief Executive Officer
[email protected]
+61 405 49 3030
www.irap.org
1
http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/road_safety_status/2013/en/.
2
http://www.irap.org/en/about-irap-3/research-and-technical-papers?download=195:the-business-case-forinvestment-in-road-safety
3
http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/road_safety_status/2013/en/.
4
http://www.irap.org/en/about-irap-2/a-business-case-for-safer-roads.
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http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/focussdgs.html.
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https://www.g20.org/g20_priorities/g20_2014_agenda/investment_and_infrastructure.
http://www.irap.org/en/about-irap-2/a-business-case-for-safer-roads.
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8
http://www.irap.org/en/irap-news/285-vaccines-for-roads
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See for example: http://www.irap.org/en/about-irap-3/research-and-technicalpapers?download=91:relationship-between-star-ratings-and-crash-costs-the-bruce-highway-australia.
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http://morth.nic.in/showfile.asp?lid=1465 and http://morth.nic.in/showfile.asp?lid=366.
See for example: http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cftb0277.pdf;
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Health_and_safety_at_work_statistics; and
http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/SWA/about/Publications/Documents/841/Key-WHS-Statistics2014.pdf.
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12
http://eurorap.org/partner-countries/netherlands/ and
http://www.saferjourneys.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Safer-Journeys-Action-plan-2013-2015.pdf.
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See for example: http://www.worldbank.org/projects/P107649/second-karnataka-state-highwayimprovement?lang=en and http://www.makeroadssafe.org/Documents/mrs_safe_roads_for_all.pdf.
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See for example: http://toolkit.irap.org.
15
See for example http://www.roadsafetyfoundation.org/media/30065/measuring_to_manage.pdf and
http://www.roadsafetyfoundation.org/media/30373/how_safe_is_the_srn_final.pdf.
16
http://www.irap.org/en/about-irap-2/a-business-case-for-safer-roads.
17
http://www.slocat.net/sites/default/files/u13/slocat-resultsframework-_25_july.pdf.
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See for example: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/social-impact-investment-taskforce and
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-development-bonds-will-combat-global-poverty.
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