UN Proposes New Tax for Global Road Safety Fund
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Highlights
Road accidents currently rank as the ninth major cause of death globally and contribute to the highest number of fatalities in the age group of 15-29 years. In fact, current trends indicate that road crashes are set to become the seventh leading cause of death by 2030.
According to the United Nations, road traffic accidents kill an estimated 1.3 million people every year. On an average, that's 3,287 deaths per day. 90 per cent of them occur in middle and low-income countries, even though they have approximately half of the world's vehicles. In India, around 140,000 people are killed in road accidents annually.
Jean Todt, United Nations secretary general's special envoy for road safety, announced the formation of a high-level panel to create the UN fund. He said that around 18 million cars and one billion units of tyres are sold annually across the globe, and even a small surcharge levied per unit would result in a massive contribution.
Todt also added that the alcohol industry must contribute as well since it is one of the major contributors to road deaths.
The idea of a global fund has come about since middle and low-income countries are the worst-affected when it comes to road accidents.
This is on the lines of the Ebola tax which was imposed on international airline travel to fight the disease and help in research.
World Bank's chief financial officer Bertrand Badre, while speaking to The Times of India, said that governments should contribute more towards the road safety fund.
"We must ensure is that the funds collected globally are used carefully. Don't waste the fund at any cost and you need to convince people that the money collected from them in any form of tax is utilised properly. First, we need to work out why we need the fund and what to do with it," he added.
Badre also mentioned that quite a few countries are already on board with the idea and that the exercise should be able to get the go-ahead without too much fuss.
Last Updated on November 30, 2015
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