Road mortality is a global scourge. Every French family is affected. Road accidents occur every 21 seconds on average, making it the 14th leading cause of death on the planet, according to figures from the World Health Organization (WHO), and the leading cause of death among young people under the age of 29. It is therefore essential to propose responses, both behavioral and technological, to meet this challenge.
According to the WHO, worldwide road traffic is responsible for around 1.4 million deaths each year and between 20 and 50 million people are injured or disabled.
About 80% of these accidents take place in developing countries where, according to the World Bank, the cost of accidents exceeds 50 billion euros. This is more than the total development aid provided by rich countries. With the ever greater growth of the automotive sector in developing countries, we can expect a steady increase if the states concerned do not act.
In France, 18,000 deaths were recorded on the roads in 1972, a figure which has been reduced to around 4,000 currently. On the other hand, there is an increase in injured cyclists admitted to emergencies, which should reach 250 in 2021. In addition, new types of accidents appear with the arrival of the electric scooter, and, in this regard, their speed will be reduced to 10 km / h in some pedestrian areas.
The main behavioral factors are alcohol, drugs and fatigue. Alcohol is still responsible for more than 50% of fatal crashes and, in 2019, almost a quarter of fatal crashes were caused by drivers under the influence of drugs.
In addition, the alcohol / drug mixture potentiates the effects and multiplies the risk of fatal accident by 29. Fatigue, still largely underestimated, still causes many accidents on major roads. We understand here the importance of breaks every two hours, knowing that one in three motorway accidents is associated with drowsiness. And noNew accident factors are emerging.
“Prevention is obviously the first brick of safety on the roads. Unfortunately, we have a breakthrough of ‘distractors’, mainly concerning the use of the telephone while driving, but also among cyclists and pedestrians.”
Anne Lavaud, general delegate of the road prevention associationto franceinfo
Technological innovations partly explain the drop in road deaths and injuries in France, such as the seat belt, which has been more than necessary since its inception. According to the WHO, in the event of an accident, wearing a seat belt reduces the risk of death by 40% to 65% for passengers seated in the front, and by 25% to 75% for those in the front seat. the back.
Various technical devices have also made it possible to drastically reduce the number of accidents or reduce their severity. Thus, the ABS (anti-locking system of the wheels, from the German Antiblockiersystem), ESP (electronic flight path control, from English Electronic Stability Program) and AFU (Emergency Braking Assistance), three devices now mandatory on new cars, prevent loss of vehicle control.
Road Safety organizes an innovation competition each year, in order to highlight the devices of the future that will reduce the number of people involved in accidents on the road. There are thus boxes that automatically call for help in the event of an accident, or even more visible markings on the ground. At state level, the LAVIA project (Limiter adapting to the authorized speed), offers a driving assistance system that can display the maximum speed on each section, or even restrict the speed of the vehicle. It could very soon be installed in new vehicles.
Finally, we are starting to talk about autonomous car driving, as offered by the Tesla brand. This should reduce the number of accidents, as long as there is no autopilot malfunction. However, the risk of a cyberattack should not be overlooked. It could lead to chain disasters, if the network is taken over by hackers.
The future could also be in the prediction. Thus, an artificial intelligence system from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) makes it possible to predict the risk of high accidents depending on the traffic, and to propose a less dangerous route.