Speaking Of : In The Driver’s Seat

World Report takes a spin around the global transportation network to see how the United States and the rest of world compare in terms of road congestion and safety.

The United States has by far the most extensive network of motorways, the highest vehicle ownership rate and some of the safest roads around.

The most crowded roads are found in Asia and the Middle East. The most dangerous roads are found in Rowanda where a driver is 27 times more likely to be involved in an accident than in the United States.

Largest Motorway Networks United States: 52,616 (1990) Canada: 9,290 Germany: 5,554 France: 4,619 Italy: 4,196 Japan: 3,019 Mexico: 1,963 Britain: 1,800 Spain: 1,674 Netherlands: 1,297 *

Number of Cars per Mile of Road Hong Kong: 418.4 Taiwan: 240.3 Singapore: 232.0 Kuwait: 224.2 Brunei: 153.6 Israel: 124.2 Netherlands: 93.3 Japan: 86.1 U.S.: 48.3(1990) *

Number of Cars per 1,000 people U.S.: 752 (1990) Canada: 617 (1989) New Zealand: 608 (1987) Luxembourg: 532 Iceland: 527 Italy: 517 (1989) Germany: 511 (1990) France: 501 Switzerland: 500 Japan: 483 *

Average Per Capita Annual Distance Traveled by Car (Miles per year) Iraq: 23,982 (1989) Jordan (East Bank): 18,600 (1987) Yemen: 16,309 Ethiopia: 15,244 (1988) Kuwait: 12,400 (1990) Hong Kong: 11,925 Bahrain: 11,547 Denmark: 11,532 U.S.: 10,531 (1990)

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Road Accidents Injury Accidents per 100 million miles traveled Rwanda: 3,224 (1990) Colombia: 1,501 (1988) South Korea: 1,410 (1988) Costa Rica: 1,347 Chile: 404 (1987) Honduras: 389 (1990) Kenya: 318 Turkey: 318 U.S.: 118 (1990) *

Road Exenditures* (in U.S. $$ billions) Japan: 64.9 (1988) U.S.: 58.4 (1989) Spain: 19.9 Germany: 13.5 (1987) Italy: 11.8 (1989) Britain: 7.4 (1990) Hong Kong: 5.0 Canada: 4.3 (1988) Austria: 3.7 Switzerland: 3.7 *

Figures are for 1991 unless otherwise noted

* Total road expenditures include administration, maintenance and new construction.

Source: International Road Federation ‘World Road Statistics 1987-1991’