The latest road accident statistics, published by the the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development "OECD", are alarming for Algeria. In 2018, the country recorded more than 3 310 deaths on its roads, that is 276 deaths per month.
These figures are far from those reported in some countries such as Sweden (280 deaths), Denmark (171 deaths) and New Zealand (253 deaths).
Another indicator, the road mortality rate per 100 000 inhabitants:
| Algeria | Morocco | Egypt | Greece | Turkey | France | Germany | Sweden |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23.50% | 20% | 10% | 9.35% | 8.50% | 5.18% | 4.32% | 2.70% |
According to the World Bank, developed countries hold 52.1% of the world's car fleet and account for 8.5% of the total number of deaths. In contrast, developing countries hold 47.9% of the car fleet and account for 91.5% of road deaths.
Likewise many countries in the region, Algeria is unable to effectively combat the scourge of road accidents [4] due to various factors including:
- education
- regulatory failures
- infrastructure quality
- day-to-day mismanagement of road traffic
- speeding
- non-compliance with the traffic code
- refusal to wear helmets for motorcyclists
- non use of seat belts
Road accidents are a real scourge for the community. They cost between 3% and 5% of some countries' GDP.