The Global Road Safety Challenge

The world continues to face a grave and largely preventable public‐health and development crisis in road safety. Roughly 1.2 million people die every year from road traffic crashes, and tens of millions more are seriously injured — with fatality rates especially high in low‐ and middle-income countries. (World Health Organization)

The losses are not only human, but economic: countries lose an estimated 3–5% of GDP due to road trauma. This challenge intersects with transport, urban planning, health, development and equity: vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists) often bear the brunt, and when safe mobility is frustrated, opportunities for education, work, health care and participation shrink.

Into this context, the 4th Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety (held in Marrakech, Morocco from 18–20 February 2025) offered an inflection point. Hosted by the World Health Organization and the Government of Morocco, under the theme “Commit to Life”, the conference convened ministers, government agencies, civil-society actors and the private sector from over 100 countries to assess progress mid-way through the United Nations Second Decade of Action for Road Safety and to galvanise momentum around the target of halving road deaths and serious injuries by 2030. In essence, the Marrakech meeting reaffirmed that road safety is not a niche transport issue, it is fundamental to development, health, equity and sustainable mobility.

The Third Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety: Achieving Global Goals 2030 Stockholm, 19–20 February 2020 highlighted that persistent epidemic of road traffic death and injury, with over 90% of these casualties occurring in low- and middle-income countries.

Traffic injury is the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5–29 years, and the projected figure of up to 500 million road traffic deaths and injuries occurring worldwide between 2020 and 2030, constitutes a preventable epidemic and crisis that to avoid, will require more significant political commitment, leadership and greater action at all levels in the next decade.

The global character of the road safety challenge calls for international cooperation and partnerships across many sectors of society. Meeting this challenge is the responsibility of system designers and road users to move towards a world free from road traffic fatalities and serious injuries. Addressing road safety demands multi-stakeholder collaboration among the public and private sectors, academia, professional organizations, nongovernmental organizations and the media.

The Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011–2020 highlighted the need to promote an integrated approach to road safety such as a Safe System approach and Vision Zero, pursue long-term and sustainable safety solutions, and strengthen national inter-sectoral collaboration, including engagement with NGOs and civil society as well as businesses and industry which contribute to and influence the social and economic development of countries.

The Prince Michael International Road Safety Awards recognise the achievements and innovations of organisations which successfully rise to meet this challenge.