Sharing Road Safety

Each year about 1.3 million people are killed and another 50 million people
are injured on roads worldwide. These road crashes cost countries between 1
and 3 percent of their GDP. Many of these crashes can be prevented by
effective countermeasures. This report helps identify the most effective
safety countermeasures.

Policy makers need to justify expenditure on road safety in terms of
effectiveness, competing for the scarce resources available. The risk of
making poor decisions and the cost of making better decisions can be reduced
by the use of reliable studies on how effective safety measures are, based on
Crash Modification Functions (CMFs). This report shows that there is a
prospect for significant advances and major cost savings through the transfer
of results internationally, allowing for more rapid adoption and dissemination
of new life-saving safety measures.

The report serves as a guide to how research results can be shared
internationally. It provides checklist for systematic review of road safety
studies and a framework for standardising methodology.

The report targets the road safety research community but will also find an
audience among policy makers at all levels of government. The report
highlights the value of Crash Modification Functions and the importance of
ensuring practicioners use the best CMFs available.