It was May 30, 1896 in New York City that the first recorded injury involving a motor vehicle happened. Later that year, on August 17, the first recoded fatality involving a motor vehicle occurred when a pedestrian in London was ploughed down. Since then, the numbers have soared. Road traffic injuries are a major but neglected public health challenge that requires concerted efforts for effective and sustainable prevention, according to a report from the World Health Organization and the World Bank. Worldwide, an estimated 1.2 million people are killed in road crashes each year and as many as 50 million are injured. Projections indicate that these figures will increase by about 65 percent during the next 20 years unless there is new commitment to prevention. The report contends that the level of road traffic injury is unacceptable and that it is largely avoidable.

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