"Percautions" for safe travel

Percautions for safe travel

May 16, 2007

We’re not sure what your summer vacation plans are this year - maybe with fuel prices ever rising, you’re planning to stay close to home.

But if you are one of a growing number of adventure travelers, or those who simply enjoy untrammeled and exotic places, be forewarned.

The No. 1 cause of non-natural death for tourists is not terrorism or murder or mysterious illness, despite the fact that such stories of demise are most likely to make the evening news.

The biggest killer of Americans abroad is traffic accidents - in traditional tourist countries as well as exotic locales.

According to the Make Roads Safe Campaign, traffic crashes killed 741 Americans traveling overseas during 2004-2006. That was one-third of all deaths.

The data come from an analysis of U.S. State Department figures.

Make Roads Safe suggests that the real numbers could be even higher, because the families of some survivors would not have reported the accidents to the State Department.

Due to a confluence of deficiencies, highway safety is particularly problematic in developing countries. Roads are often poorly designed and in bad repair. Vehicles may be old and inadequately maintained. Drivers may be relatively unskilled and unreliable. And safety regulations - or their enforcement -may be lacking.

Dangers also exist in developing nations such as China. There, use of the automobile has expanded so rapidly that even if authorities were committed to Western-style safety standards, they likely would be overwhelmed in enforcing them. Sales of passenger cars rose 37 percent there just last year alone.

Travel experts say tourists need to plan trips with an eye toward more than just getting the right shots and carrying the right clothing for the climate.

They need to research the country’s road safety history, the nature of its terrain (brake failure on a mountain is more dangerous than brake failure on a plain) and the safety records of any tour groups they might be using.

The Association for Safe International Road Travel (www.asirt.org) provides such information. It was founded by a mother who lost her son in a road accident in Turkey.

“Travelers indeed worry about malaria - all the diseases they can contract. They worry about terrorism, they worry about hooliganism, they worry about people taking their things,” Rochelle Sobel told the Associated Press.

“And they don’t worry about the single greatest cause of death.”