DEVELOPMENT REPORT - UN Urges Action to Improve Road Safety

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - UN Urges Action to Improve Road Safety
By Jill Moss¹

Broadcast: Monday, April 26, 2004

This is Robert Cohen with the VOA Special English Development Report.

The United Nations has called for a campaign to improve road safety. The U-N General Assembly met earlier this month to discuss the issue. This was the first time the one-hundred-ninety-one members have held a meeting to consider the problem of road safety.

The General Assembly invited the World Health Organization to lead the campaign. The World Health Organization is a U-N agency.

World Health Day this year also centered on road safety. On April seventh, the W.H.O. and the World Bank released the "World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention." The report estimates that road traffic kills more than one-million people a year. Between twenty-million and fifty-million more are injured. Road crashes are a leading cause of death among people age five to forty-four.

The economic loss is huge. The report says road injuries cost one to two percent of national earnings² in many less developed nations.

 
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In rich countries, the people most at risk of traffic injuries are drivers and passengers. However, in poor nations, fewer people have money for a car. So people walking along roads or riding bicycles or motorcycles are among those at greatest risk. So are those using public transportation.

The report suggests ways to improve road safety. These suggestions are directed at governments, international organizations and others. For example, the report calls for a government agency in each country to coordinate⁴ efforts to improve national road safety. The report also calls for stronger traffic laws and stronger enforcement.

It urges more education about the need to use safety equipment like seatbelts. And it calls for teaching more about the dangers of driving too fast and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The report notes that efforts have been made in some parts of the world to improve road safety. For example, it says rates of traffic injuries and deaths have dropped in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ghana and Thailand. Rates have also decreased in many Western nations.

But the report warns about what could happen without immediate⁵ action. It estimates that by two-thousand-twenty, road traffic deaths in less developed countries will increase by eighty percent.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss. This is Robert Cohen.

1 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

2 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

3 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

4 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

5 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。