Riding motorbikes killing young Asians – WHO

Motorbikes may have no trouble cutting through traffic, but they’re also causing more deaths, especially among young people in Asia.

"Deaths and disabilities resulting from motorcycle accidents involving young people have become a public health epidemic in Asia" over the years, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Everyday, some 1,000 people under 25 years are killed in road accidents and 85 percent occur in low and medium-income countries, WHO reported.

Annually, the death toll from road traffic collisions is around 1.2 million, it said.

Amid high oil prices, the cheaper and easily maneuvered motorbikes are the way to go in the Philippines where traffic jams are also constant.

In low and medium-income countries, a motorcycle has become a family vehicle but helmets are rarely used, partly because of their cost and partly due to lack of helmets for children.

"Young motorcyclists make up a significant percentage of injuries and fatalities among road users in many Asian countries, including Cambodia and Malaysia. Factors such as speed, no helmets, risk-taking behavior and drunk-driving contribute to the rising trend," WHO noted in line with the observance of the First United Nations Global Road Safety Week from April 23 to 29.

WHO said that by wearing helmets correctly, the risk of death is cut by some 40 percent and the risk of severe injury by 72 percent. Many countries, however, do not strictly enforce laws covering the use of these protective gadgets.

"Millions more people are injured and often remained disabled for life. In high-income countries, most of those killed or injured in road accidents are drivers of four-wheeled vehicles," WHO said.

In low and medium-income countries, the "vulnerable road users" – pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists and users of public transport – make up a larger portion of those injured or killed.

The agency proposed "simple measures" that can be observed to minimize injuries and deaths from road accidents.

These include setting and enforcing appropriate limits on the speed and drunk driving; introducing and enforcing child restraints law and mandatory use of seat belt and helmets; providing safer routes for pedestrians and cyclists, constructing speed bumps, separating different types of traffic and improving emergency services from the crash scenes to the health facilities.

"Having a light-colored helmet was found to be associated with a lower risk of accident. Eighteen percent of road accidents could be avoided if non-white helmets were eliminated," WHO said. – Sheila Crisostomo