For Study Abroad Students, Road Travel Can Be Risky, Specialists Say

Students are sometimes have no idea in regards to the roads and legal guidelines in unfamiliar locations and might not be ready to make protected highway journey choices, in accordance with the Association for Safe International Road Travel.

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Traveling to a different nation to review could be an essential a part of the faculty instructional expertise, however an rising variety of Americans are actually selecting to move to less-developed areas of the world, the place visitors fatalities are most prevalent. More than 90 % of highway crash deaths globally happen in low- and middle-income international locations, in accordance with the World Health Organization (WHO).

Road security consultants are fast to level out the significance and worth of learning overseas, however stress that it’s vital for college students and sponsors of abroad applications to know the hazards and guard towards the dangers – earlier than they go.

Rochelle Sobel, founder and president of the Association for Safe International Road Travel (ASIRT), a nonprofit primarily based within the United States, together with colleagues Cathy Silberman and Gayle Nadler, answered a number of questions to assist put together college students.

Why is it notably essential to find out about highway security when touring overseas?

Generally, vacationers are likely to assume that highway circumstances, signage, automobile choices and circumstances, and drivers are much like these of their house international locations. Statistically, in accordance with the U.S. Department of State, highway crashes are among the many single best dangers for wholesome vacationers overseas. Yet, vacationers are unaware of this and due to this fact don’t search data and plan itineraries accordingly previous to departure.

Students particularly are in danger as a result of they’re pure threat takers and highway crashes are the best threat for younger folks ages 5-28, in accordance with the WHO. Usually, college students are unfamiliar with roads and legal guidelines in unfamiliar locations and might not be ready to make protected highway journey choices.

Do college students and fogeys usually take into consideration highway security when they’re planning? If not, what are the principle challenges to alter that?

Risks on the highway are sometimes not on the radar of scholars or mother and father within the planning course of. Perceived dangers for all vacationers together with terrorism, kidnapping, and illness really happen much less ceaselessly than highway accidents.

Some examine overseas applications don’t take highway security into consideration to the extent that they need to. Students have alternatives to journey on their very own, outdoors of their established applications, the place they could need to make knowledgeable journey choices. Planning forward and recognizing dangers are essential for college students, school, and directors.

In 2016 I wrote Study-Abroad Programs Address a Risk: Road Fatalities, together with a sidebar on Tips for avoiding harmful incidents for The New York Times. At that point, some schools and universities and examine overseas applications had been simply starting to take a extra energetic position in making ready their college students, however it wasn’t widespread. Has the setting improved since then?

Many establishments are doing an excellent job of informing their vacationers of highway dangers. They have pre-and post-departure and onsite orientations, net pages devoted to journey overseas, and assets for folks. Risk managers in greater schooling fashioned PULSE International, a corporation comprised of well being, security, and safety professionals who deal with points associated to greater schooling and share greatest practices. The Forum for Education Abroad publishes requirements and greatest practices for examine overseas professionals, in addition to internet hosting conferences that deal with well being and security. The GEBG, newly branded because the Institute for Global Learning, presents comparable applications and assets for k-12 colleges.

And the U.S. Department of State means that vacationers full a checklist. Included within the guidelines is registering for the STEP program.

What sorts of companies and assets does ASIRT present?

ASIRT presents Road Safety Reviews (RSR) for greater than 100 international locations. Each 4-6 web page report consists of complete, country-specific details about highway circumstances, transport choices, protected routes, and native driver behaviors. Free pattern stories can be found. Corporations, nonprofits and NGOs, and colleges can contract with ASIRT for stories which can be particular to their vacationers’ wants. ASIRT additionally publishes a quarterly newsletter, On the Road with ASIRT, that gives suggestions and highway security information.

ASIRT requested Amelia J. Dietrich, senior director for analysis & publications, and managing editor of “Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad” at The Forum on Education Abroad, to reply the next two questions. Dr. Dietrich additionally leads the Student Risk Report initiative, a yearly report that compiles information on accidents and fatalities that occur to American college students who examine overseas.

Is the variety of American college students who die or are severely injured in automobile crashes overseas tracked?

Dr. Dietrich: We observe critical incidents together with accidents, diseases, and crimes that occur to particular person college students whereas learning overseas and may interrupt participation of their schooling. We additionally observe incidents that disrupt schooling overseas on the program stage, similar to automobile crashes or pure disasters. During the calendar years 2023 and 2024, we collected details about critical incidents occurring among the many 134,783 college students who studied overseas in 121 totally different international locations with applications operated by our reporting establishments. Globally, 2,438 college students (or 1 in 65) skilled one of many incidents we observe throughout the two-year interval. The report additionally supplies country-level information for the 25 most typical schooling overseas locations. We are presently within the third yr of knowledge assortment for this report and can publish the most recent replace in early 2026.

What different companies does your group present to college students and households?

Dr. Dietrich: The Forum presents a wide range of skilled growth applications, coaching and assets that assist worldwide educators keep knowledgeable of greatest practices in threat administration and supporting scholar security and nicely being. Students and households contemplating examine overseas can consult with our Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad to determine what questions they need to be asking themselves and their program suppliers when making choices about learning overseas.

What’s a very powerful message that ASIRT desires to ship to college students?

The key to mitigating threat on the roads overseas is to “know before you go.” Research and turn into acquainted with the most secure transportation choices and routes to take. Consider vetting native drivers or transportation companies, relatively than driving. Learn native highway tradition (instance: crosswalks and crossing lights could also be current, however do drivers take note of them?) and when the roads are busiest or darkest, notably in mountainous areas or in international locations with poor highway security data.

Road crashes are predictable and preventable. An knowledgeable traveler is the safer traveler.

For extra details about protected worldwide highway journey, click on here.