After a recent trip to a foreign country (I avoid mentioning it so as not to sound racist), and having been shocked by the way the people drive, I decided to play around with some data so as to understand why...
So I grabbed some data from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capita
and it seems that Europe or, in general, the western world has the safest streets to go around... this of course is related to the wealth of the country (0.84 correlation) but there are quite a few countries which are (on average) rich but still have a big death rate...
See below the analysis in R:
ac = read.csv('accidents.csv',stringsAsFactors = FALSE,header=TRUE)
ac$PPP = as.numeric(ac$PPP)
ac=ac[-which(is.na(ac$PPP)),]
ac$colours[ac$Continent=='Africa'] = 'Red'
ac$colours[ac$Continent=='Asia'] = 'Yellow'
ac$colours[ac$Continent=='Oceania'] = 'Blue'
ac$colours[ac$Continent=='North America'] = 'darkgreen'
ac$colours[ac$Continent=='South America'] = 'Orange'
ac$colours[ac$Continent=='Europe'] = 'Green'
ac$index = seq(1,length(ac$Country),by=1)
plot(ac$index,log(ac$Fatalities),col=ac$colours)
cor(ac$index,ac$PPP)
[1] 0.8480832
ac$Country[ac$PPP-ac$index>60]
[1] "Equatorial Guinea" "Iraq" "Venezuela" "Gabon"
[5] "Oman" "Saudi Arabia" "United Arab Emirates" "Qatar"
[9] "Kuwait" "Singapore"
Raw Data
[1] 0.8480832
ac$Country[ac$PPP-ac$index>60]
[1] "Equatorial Guinea" "Iraq" "Venezuela" "Gabon"
[5] "Oman" "Saudi Arabia" "United Arab Emirates" "Qatar"
[9] "Kuwait" "Singapore"
Raw Data
Country | Fatalities /100k Vehicles | Continent | PPP (reversed) |
Central African Republic |
13472.8 | Africa | 1 |
Sudan | 9370.2 | Africa | 50 |
Benin | 8277.3 | Africa | 21 |
Burundi | 5960 | Africa | 4 |
Guinea | 5769.9 | Africa | 9 |
Eritrea | 4400 | Africa | 8 |
Congo, Dem. Rep. | 3932.6 | Africa | 2 |
Ethiopia | 3874.3 | Africa | 15 |
São Tomé and Príncipe | 3090.9 | Africa | 41 |
Sierra Leone | 2940 | Africa | 25 |
Niger | 2369.7 | Africa | 5 |
Madagascar | 2292.2 | Africa | 10 |
Timor-Leste | 2267.1 | Africa | 60 |
Rwanda | 2265.2 | Africa | 18 |
Kenya | 2176.5 | Africa | 39 |
Togo | 2099.2 | Africa | 11 |
Angola | 2074.9 | Africa | 70 |
Gambia, The | 1867.8 | Africa | 14 |
Guyana | 1707.3 | South America | 68 |
Mali | 1672.5 | Africa | 19 |
Malawi | 1670.9 | Africa | 6 |
Solomon Islands | 1541.7 | Oceania | 22 |
Uganda | 1518.1 | Africa | 23 |
Chad | 1391 | Africa | 32 |
Congo, Rep. | 1325.7 | Africa | 67 |
Mozambique | 1135.5 | Africa | 7 |
Bangladesh | 1064.1 | Asia | 46 |
Tanzania | 1039.6 | Africa | 34 |
Equatorial Guinea | 941.2 | Africa | 160 |
Zambia | 923.6 | Africa | 48 |
Cameroon | 887.8 | Africa | 37 |
Guinea-Bissau | 872.5 | Africa | 12 |
Ivory Coast | 867.9 | Africa | #N/A |
Afghanistan | 848.9 | Asia | 24 |
Vanuatu | 757.3 | Oceania | 31 |
Senegal | 742.6 | Africa | 28 |
Yemen | 587.6 | Asia | 47 |
Comoros | 535.1 | Africa | 13 |
Burkina Faso | 516.1 | Africa | 16 |
Ghana | 481.6 | Africa | 49 |
Nigeria | 425.2 | Africa | 64 |
Nepal | 406.1 | Asia | 29 |
Pakistan | 383.7 | Asia | 53 |
Ecuador | 376.3 | South America | 91 |
Kiribati | 372.7 | Oceania | 17 |
Tajikistan | 347.6 | Asia | 33 |
Myanmar | 308.5 | Asia | 54 |
Iraq | 293.8 | Asia | 112 |
Venezuela | 266.4 | South America | 120 |
Mauritania | 250 | Africa | 51 |
Namibia | 249.3 | Africa | 87 |
Nicaragua | 243.3 | North America | 55 |
Kyrgyzstan | 237.7 | Asia | 42 |
Syrian Arab Republic | 225.6 | Asia | #N/A |
Zimbabwe | 212.4 | Africa | 26 |
Marshall Islands | 211.6 | Oceania | 45 |
Bolivia | 209.9 | South America | 65 |
India | 207.5 | Asia | 63 |
Morocco | 206.3 | Africa | 73 |
Samoa | 200.5 | Oceania | 59 |
El Salvador | 189.9 | North America | 74 |
Egypt | 183.3 | Africa | 89 |
Swaziland | 181 | Africa | 83 |
Turkmenistan | 175.5 | Asia | 108 |
Gabon | 173.3 | Africa | 130 |
Cape Verde | 172.9 | Africa | 66 |
Bhutan | 166.7 | Asia | 72 |
South Africa | 156.4 | Africa | 99 |
Dominican Republic | 151.5 | North America | 106 |
Paraguay | 150.5 | South America | 78 |
Peru | 146.5 | South America | 95 |
Honduras | 144.8 | North America | 52 |
Cuba | 143.5 | North America | #N/A |
Libya | 139.2 | Africa | 114 |
Mongolia | 134.2 | Asia | 96 |
Jordan | 133.8 | Asia | 97 |
China | 133.3 | Asia | 100 |
Tunisia | 132.6 | Africa | 92 |
Philippines | 128.1 | Asia | 69 |
Laos | 125.6 | Asia | 58 |
Azerbaijan | 122.3 | Asia | 121 |
Cambodia | 118.8 | Asia | 43 |
Kazakhstan | 108.1 | Asia | 138 |
Botswana | 105.7 | Africa | 118 |
Oman | 105.1 | Asia | 166 |
Iran | 104.7 | Asia | 119 |
Tonga | 103.4 | Oceania | 56 |
Saudi Arabia | 103 | Asia | 178 |
Albania | 97.2 | Europe | 93 |
Georgia | 93 | Africa | 81 |
Thailand | 92.4 | Asia | 113 |
Seychelles | 85 | Africa | 144 |
Colombia | 83.5 | South America | 104 |
Panama | 80.7 | North America | 127 |
Moldova | 77.5 | Europe | 57 |
Liberia | 73.7 | Africa | 3 |
Sri Lanka | 72.2 | Asia | 85 |
Trinidad and Tobago | 69.8 | North America | 153 |
Fiji | 69.6 | Oceania | 77 |
Brazil | 67.7 | South America | 115 |
Vietnam | 65.3 | Asia | 62 |
Costa Rica | 64.1 | North America | 109 |
Nauru | 63.5 | Oceania | #N/A |
Jamaica | 63.5 | North America | 79 |
Lebanon | 61.7 | Asia | 124 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 59.6 | Europe | 84 |
Indonesia | 58.4 | Asia | 86 |
Chile | 58 | South America | 136 |
Uruguay | 56.2 | South America | 132 |
Russia | 55.4 | Europe | 139 |
Suriname | 54.2 | South America | 116 |
Mexico | 54.1 | North America | 123 |
Palau | 52 | Oceania | 107 |
Romania | 47.3 | Europe | 129 |
Saint Lucia | 45.9 | North America | 94 |
Macedonia | 45.6 | Asia | 103 |
Guatemala | 45.2 | North America | 71 |
Turkey | 42.6 | Asia | 128 |
United Arab Emirates | 42.3 | Asia | 183 |
Montenegro | 41.3 | Europe | 111 |
Mauritius | 41.1 | Africa | 126 |
Bahamas | 35.8 | Asia | #N/A |
Ukraine | 35.3 | Europe | 80 |
Dominica | 34 | North America | 90 |
Qatar | 32.8 | Asia | 189 |
Malaysia | 31.4 | Asia | 142 |
Latvia | 30.1 | Europe | 137 |
Kuwait | 28.8 | Asia | 185 |
Bahrain | 28.6 | Asia | 176 |
Serbia | 28.5 | Europe | 102 |
Singapore | 27.4 | Asia | 187 |
South Korea | 26.8 | Asia | 159 |
Argentina | 24.7 | South America | 134 |
Belarus | 24.7 | Europe | 125 |
Federated States of Micronesia | 24 | Oceania | #N/A |
Bulgaria | 23.6 | Europe | 122 |
Slovakia | 22 | Europe | 149 |
Hungary | 21.3 | Europe | 140 |
Cook Islands | 21.2 | Oceania | #N/A |
Armenia | 18.6 | Asia | 75 |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
18.5 | North America | 88 |
Portugal | 18 | Europe | 146 |
Poland | 17.6 | Europe | 143 |
Croatia | 16.7 | Europe | 131 |
Belize | 16.4 | North America | 76 |
Lithuania | 15 | Europe | 147 |
Barbados | 14.9 | North America | 117 |
Greece | 13.8 | Europe | 145 |
United States | 13.6 | North America | 179 |
Estonia | 13.1 | Europe | 148 |
Czech Republic | 13 | Europe | 151 |
Maldives | 12 | Asia | 101 |
Cyprus | 10.8 | Asia | 152 |
Slovenia | 10.5 | Europe | 150 |
New Zealand | 10.3 | Oceania | 158 |
Israel | 9.5 | Asia | 154 |
Canada | 9.3 | North America | 169 |
France | 8.5 | Europe | 163 |
Ireland | 8.1 | Asia | 177 |
Luxembourg | 8.1 | Europe | 188 |
Belgium | 8 | Europe | 165 |
Brunei | 7.7 | Asia | 186 |
Australia | 7.6 | Oceania | 173 |
Italy | 7.6 | Europe | 157 |
Japan | 7.3 | Asia | 161 |
Austria | 7.2 | Europe | 174 |
Germany | 6.9 | Europe | 171 |
Netherlands | 6.9 | Europe | 175 |
Finland | 6.6 | Europe | 164 |
United Kingdom | 6.2 | Europe | 162 |
Denmark | 5.7 | Europe | 168 |
Spain | 5.2 | Europe | 156 |
Sweden | 5.1 | Europe | 172 |
Iceland | 4.9 | Europe | 167 |
Switzerland | 4.7 | Europe | 181 |
Norway | 4.4 | Europe | 184 |
Malta | 3.8 | Europe | 155 |
San Marino | 0 | Europe | 182 |