ABSTRACT
Road transportation systems affect human health through complex pathways. Governments invest in road infrastructure because it encourages economic growth, which has direct and indirect benefits to health. However, an excessive reliance on motor vehicles harms population health and social wellbeing due to road traffic injuries, air pollution and reduced physical activity, among other effects. In this chapter, we start by reviewing the mechanisms through which road transport impacts population health. Next, we review the magnitude of the health loss due to injuries and vehicular pollution relative to other diseases in regions at different levels of economic development. We show that the health impacts of motorized road transport rank among the leading causes of health loss in all regions of the world. Finally, we describe how researchers construct estimates of the burden of road traffic injuries in information-poor settings.
