El Salvador's dangerous roads

A recent article from IPS titled Death Speeding Down El Salvador’s Roads details the high number of traffic fatalities in the Central American nation:

The combination of widespread disregard for traffic regulations and poor vehicle and road controls puts El Salvador among the countries of Latin America with the highest rates of traffic-related deaths.... 

“Traffic accidents are one of our leading emergencies; there are so many that we can barely cope,” rescue team paramedic Carlos Fuentes told IPS.

El Salvador has an average of 24.5 traffic-related deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in a population of 6.2 million, ranking sixth on the list of countries in the region with the highest number of deaths in traffic accidents.   The list, prepared by the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) for the 2012 edition of its Health in the Americas report, is topped by the Dominican Republic, with 32.2 traffic-related deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. 

Leading causes of car accidents include speeding, drunk driving and distractions that cause motorists to divert their attention from the road, Officer Otto Urrutia, chief of the National Police Force’s Traffic Division, said.

Read more of this article on El Salvador's dangerous roads here.