The WHO said health complaints from air and noise pollution as well as traffic accidents could be reduced if citizens were encouraged to walk, ride bikes and use public transport instead of cars.

The appeal came as part of European Mobility Week and as Europe marked its annual "car-free" day.

"Policy-makers should facilitate this behavioural change through appropriate decisions that make it easier and safer to choose walking, cycling and public transport as a means of daily transport," WHO official Roberto Bertollini said in a statement.

"The consequences of transport for health affect most of the population, not just drivers and passengers in motor vehicles," the WHO said.

It said air pollution accounts for about 100,000 premature deaths in adults annually in Europe, noting that emissions from road traffic make up a "significant share" of this pollution.

Traffic accidents in Europe kill about 120,000 people and cause some 2.5 million injuries each year, while some 50 million people in the European Union are exposed to road traffic noise levels considered to be "detrimental to health".

Meanwhile, physical inactivity, which the WHO called a "major risk factor" for ill health, is linked to five to 10 percent of deaths in European, where 20 to 30 percent of adults are estimated to be obese.

TERRA.WIRE