Panama 2nd in Central America road carnage

ONE person was killed and another injured in traffic accident in San Carlos on Tuesday, Sep,5, bringing the total highway deaths in Panama this year to 284.

With  4,209 people killed in traffic accidents from 2007 to 2016, Panama  sits in second place  in Central America for traffic accident fatality rates  with 10.9 per 100,00

Only  El Salvador, which has an enormous fleet of motorcycles has a higher carnage rate at 18 per 10,000.

Of 1,395,000 vehicles, 15% (206,506 ) are powered two wheeled  death traps. According to  El Salvador police reports 225 motorcyclists died in 2016.

In Panama there  1,221,999 vehicles of which 61,975 are motorcycles, according to Transit authority (ATTT).

Guatemala comes in third with a rate of 10.3, followed by Costa Rica (9.2), Nicaragua (7.8) and Honduras (7.0).

Guatemala has most vehicles (2.7 million), followed by Honduras (1, 542 289).

According to the World Health Organization, (WHO) approximately 1.25 million people die in traffic accidents each year.  Half of those are ‘vulnerable road users’, ie pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists. if measures are not taken to prevent it, traffic accidents are expected to become the seventh leading cause of death worldwide by 2030.

Panama causes

The  Panama   National Traffic Operations Directorate reports that 80% of the accidents that occur in Panama are a product of the human factor (decisions of the person, whether the driver, passenger or pedestrian), 13% are due to mechanical damages and 7% to road and weather conditions.