World leaders including Tony Blair and George W Bush have united to highlight the rising number of deaths on the roads.

Road crashes are the second highest cause of death among people aged between five and 29 worldwide, and third highest among 30 to 44-year-olds, according to a report published by the World Health Organisation to mark World Health Day.

Without action to halt the number of road crashes, it is estimated that the number of road traffic deaths will increase by 80 per cent in low and middle income countries by 2020.

"Road traffic injuries hit the most deprived communities the hardest," said the prime minister.

"In the UK, the poorest children are five times more likely to die on our roads than the better off.  And this picture is replicated around the globe.

"Each year more than one million people die worldwide as a result of road crashes and collisions. And 50 million more are injured.  So the scale of the problem is hard to over-estimate.

"By 2020 road injuries could overtake HIV and tuberculosis to rank third in the causes of premature death and disability around the world."

President Bush echoed Blair's comments. "Today the death toll from traffic injuries is highest in developing countries and it continues to grow as nations become more prosperous and motorised," he said.

"In the United States, traffic accidents remain the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 35."

The report's recommendations include the appointment of lead agencies in each country to coordinate efforts in reducing road traffic deaths and the implementation of national road safety strategies.

"Thousands of people die on the world's roads every day," said Dr Lee Jong-wook, director general of the World Health Organisation.

"We are not talking about random events or 'accidents'.  We are talking about road crashes.  The risks can be understood and therefore can be prevented."

Further Action

Representatives from 30 European countries and regions have gathered in London to sign a new European road safety charter, pledging to implement road safety initiatives with an aim to reducing deaths by half by 2010.

"The statistics are horrendous, but the individual stories of pain and tragedy are far, far worse," said London's deputy mayor Jenny Jones.

"London has to wake up to the reality of nearly six people a week being killed on our roads. It is a situation which we would never accept on the railways, or tube.

"We have doubled the money spent on 20mph zones and we need to spend even more on the measures which will know will cut road deaths. These deaths and injuries are not just individual twists of fate, but preventable acts of social neglect."

The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety welcomed the report, calling on the government to do more to improve road safety globally.

"I welcome the interest of the WHO in preventing road deaths around the world," said executive director Robert Gifford.

"Globally, 1.2 million people are killed in road crashes every year and road casualties are a major public health issue.

"The WHO is right to argue that these deaths are not accidental: action can be taken to prevent them and to prevent the unnecessary pain and suffering that result."

Liberal Democrats called for a coordinated approach to the problem.

"Every day 10 people die on our roads, causing immeasurable grief and damage to families," said transport spokesman Paul Marsden.

"The annual cost to the NHS of road traffic accidents is over £1 billion.  Accident prevention could save enough to pay for over 230,000 hip replacement operations.

"Despite the government's road safety strategy, it continues to ignore the full extent of under-reporting.  And that means allocating fewer resources for important road safety measures.

"We need a fully coordinated approach to road safety which acknowledges the full picture.

"Only when we know the full extent and cost of road accidents can we take the right measures to tackle road deaths, creating safer roads and streets for all."