Current Students and Staff

// University News

13 Jan 2017

Reducing road fatalities in the Middle East

Loughborough University’s road safety experts have joined forces with Price Waterhouse Cooper (PwC) Middle East to try and reduce the large numbers of road fatalities in the region.

The Middle East has the second highest road traffic fatality rate in the world after Africa, with road traffic accidents the leading cause of death for its young people. Globally road traffic fatalities claim the lives of 1.2 million people every year.

To support Middle Eastern governments and policy makers, and those across the world, in reducing road traffic fatalities Loughborough and PwC have produced a new road safety guide.

The guide is based on a thorough analysis of the best international road safety practices and evidence-based case studies, and aims to serve as a starting point for governments to tailor their individual strategic plans and answer their own unique challenges to reducing road traffic fatalities.

As well as being shared throughout the Middle East, the guide will also be released across the world by PwC through its global network.

Professor Andrew Morris, head of the Behavioural Safety and Injury Prevention Research Group at the University’s Design School is joint author of the report.

He said: “Loughborough University has been privileged to work with PwC on this project.Road accident fatalities continue to represent a significant global challenge but there are a number of strategies and interventions that have been shown to work and which have been successfully applied internationally. We hope this report will prove a very useful tool to those tasked with improving road safety in the Middle East, and beyond.”

Andrew Morley, Director for PwC Middle East and joint author of the report said: “Whilst produced with the Middle East region in mind, reducing road traffic fatalities is a global priority and this report will provide policy-makers, wherever they are, with a practical summary of what has been shown to work in reducing road traffic fatalities and a framework for applying this within the context they are operating.”

Rami Nazer, Government and Public Sector Leader at PwC Middle East added: “PwC’s purpose is to solve important problems, and with road traffic fatality being the leading cause of death amongst the youth in the Gulf countries; reducing deaths on the road is a pressing matter.

“Reducing fatalities on the road is at the top of safety agendas for governments here in the Middle East. We were delighted to work with Loughborough University in developing this policy guide and hope that our insights will serve as a blueprint for successful road safety strategies across our region, and the world.”

A Guide for Policy Makers: On Reducing Road Fatalities can be downloaded here.