奇速英语

年轻人死亡最大威胁—交通事故

Road traffic accidents kill 1.25 million people each year in the world. But the World Health Organization (世界卫生组织) says they can be prevented. They looked at 180 countries, and it shows the number of deaths each year from traffic accidents doesn’t go up. And that is good news as the number of vehicles grows. But it also shows that road accidents are the No. 1 cause of death among young people aged from 15 to 29. Even in the US, drivers aged from 15 to 24 is about 30 percent of all driving accidents.

The WHO report also finds a big difference in road safety and deaths between poor and rich countries. Poor countries have only 54 percent of the world’s vehicles. But those countries have some of the worst safety problems. “Africa has only two percent of the world’s vehicles, but has the highest death rate(比率) on the road." Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom do well in preventing traffic deaths. The highest death rates are in Africa and the Middle East. Stricter road safety laws in developing countries would prevent many accidents. Laws can quickly correct driving habits. In only three years, 17 countries became safer by taking stricter road safety laws. There are other ways to make roads safer. Good care after an accident can cut the number of deaths from road injuries in half.