Road fatalities in the Asia-Pacific region account for nearly 60% of all road fatalities worldwide, despite the region having only 16% of the world’s vehicles, according to the Asian Development Bank.

Citing data from a World Health Organization report, the bank said that the situation could get worse unless immediate action is taken as the number of vehicles in many Asian countries is expected to double every five to seven years.

A joint regional and country initiative is required to solve the problem, said the bank.

The bank is one of the seven multilateral development banks that recently teamed up to combat rising road deaths in developing countries.