Multi-Country Per Capita Fatality Data For 2022

DSA Comments

     It must be remembered that there are three primary measures for comparing multi-national crash and fatality data: the deaths per 100,000 population or per capita rate, as shown here, deaths in relation to overall distance travelled (known in the USA as the VMT rate), and deaths in relation to the number of registered motor vehicles in the country. All three measures should be considered when comparing disparate countries but using just one of these methods is generally acceptable when comparing countries of similar status (e.g. “highly motorised countries” [HMCs], developed nations, third world countries, etc.).

     As a result, some countries in the above table may appear to present bizarre results, either because — like China, for example — they have a very high death toll but it is offset by a huge population, or they simply have, say, a very low proportion of motor vehicles per head of population — such as Brunei, that is currently at the head of the per capita table, or Ghana.

     There is also the question of how, exactly, a traffic fatality is defined in any particular country. Some may only include deaths at the scene, whereas others will stipulate deaths within 24 hours, and some may allow a full week or even 30 days.

     In some cases, therefore, the data for the number of deaths simply cannot be relied upon as being accurate. In Turkey, for example, the national press state that over 9,000 people are killed in road crashes each year, and yet each year data is published by that country giving a much lower body count. For that reason we have elected to position Turkey in the table to allow for an approximate per capita rate of 13.06 (based on the aforementioned 9,000 estimate) but have not shown the rate in the relevant column.