Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death by injury, the tenth-leading cause of all deaths and the ninth-leading contributor to the burden of disease world wide.

Each year 1.2 million men, women and children around the world lose their lives as a result of road traffic accidents.

Hundreds of thousands more are injured on our roads, some of whom become permanently disabled.

The World Health Organisation’s Road Safety Day on 7 April 2004 marks the start of a global campaign for road traffic injury prevention.

BBC World Service has responded with a season of high impact programmes aimed at prompting a global debate.

Click on the links to the left to access in-depth reports and analysis.