WHO Reveals Nearly 1.2 Million Deaths Due To Accidents Every Year, Asia Is In The Spotlight

Illustration of the accident. (Pixabay)

JAKARTA - The World Health Organization (WHO) reveals nearly 1.2 million lives are lost due to traffic accidents each year. This condition shows that vehicle safety regulations are very important in reducing road deaths and serious injuries.

However, the facts on the ground state that less than 20 percent of UN Member States have laws that comply with all core areas of UN vehicle safety regulations.

The areas that are quite highlighted in the WHO report are countries in Asia, particularly ASEAN. Old or unsafe vehicles dominate the market because of import controls and a weak regulatory framework, which puts more lives at risk.

Thus, WHO asks governments of each country to adopt laws to meet UN's main safety standards. This is done to save the public from traffic accidents.

There are more than a billion motorized vehicles on the world's current roads, and this will double in the decades through 2030, said WHO Safety and Mobility Technical Officer, Dr. Fangfang Luo, quoted from a long WHO, on Wednesday, December 10, 2025.

"To save lives, the government must adopt a law that meets UN's main safety standards," he added.

Not only that, Luo also said that the legislative standards must be aligned with vehicle design and technology. This is considered to improve driving safety around the world in the future.

"We need legislative standards aligned for vehicle design and technology to improve security around the world," concluded Fangfang Luo.