Road safety in less motorized countries - relevance of international vehicle and highway safety standards

Road safety policies in highly motorised countries (HMC) have evolved over the last fifty years with input from research and academic institutions. However, such efforts have not gone into solving problems of road safety in less motorised countries (LMC). The traffic patterns, modal shares and accident patterns in LMCs differ significantly from those obtaining in HMCs. These patterns have not been experienced in the past by HMCs and so technologies and policies cannot be directly transferred from HMCs to LMCs without modifications. Basic principles of epidemiology and road safety need to be used to develop road safety policies suited for LMCs.