Summary
- The chairperson of the National Road Fund claims that nearly 3,300 people, mostly youth, die in road crashes every day worldwide.
- She was emphasizing the increasing incidents of road accidents that are causing deaths in Liberia
- We fact-checked this claim by consulting relevant sources and conclude that the her statement is correct.
On October 24, the Head of the National Road Fund of Liberia (NRF), Mrs. Joseta Neufville-Wento, claimed during a live interview on Spoon online TV that nearly 3,300 lives are lost in road crashes daily worldwide, making road accidents the leading cause of death for young people.
Mrs. Neufville-Wento cited the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) as her source while advocating for stronger road safety measures in Liberia, a key focus of the NRF.
She was making a case about the alarming rate at which people, especially youth in Liberia and around the world, continue to lose their lives in road accidents.
The Claim
Mrs. Neufville-Wento stated: “Nearly 3,300 people lose their lives in road crashes every day worldwide, making road accidents the leading cause of death for young people.”
Listen to the claim here:
Rating Justification
To verify whether nearly 3,300 people, mostly youth, die in road crashes daily worldwide, we conducted an online search and reviewed the iRAP report cited by Mrs. Neufville-Wento.
iRAP is a registered charity that saves lives by eliminating high-risk roads worldwide. It collaborates with governments, road authorities, development banks, and NGOs to inspect dangerous roads, develop safety ratings, and track road safety performance.
The iRAP report shows that “almost 3,300 people are killed in road crashes every day,” and road rashes are indeed the leading cause of death for young people.
Further search found a December 2023 report by the World Health Organization (WHO) which shows that “despite notable progress, road safety remains an urgent global issue.”
According to the latest WHO report, more than two deaths occur per minute and over 3,200 deaths occur per day from road traffic crashes and it remains the leading killer of children and youth aged 5–29 years.
Conclusion
Based on this research, we conclude that the claim made by the head of the National Road Fund, that nearly 3,300 lives are lost in road crashes daily worldwide, making road accidents the leading cause of death for young people is correct.
The iRAP report confirms that nearly 3,300 people die in road crashes daily, making road accidents the leading cause of death for young people. Also, WHO’s latest report shows that over 3,200 people die per day from road crashes making it the leading killer of children and youth yearly.
