Road Safety

Road traffic crashes kill 1.19 million people annually and injure up to 50 million more globally. The vast majority of these deaths and injuries are preventable. Vital Strategies works with national and local governments, as well as international partners, to address this crucial public health problem.

1 Million

Nearly 1 million lives have been saved since Bloomberg Philanthropies began investing in road safety in 2007.

100+

Vital Strategies has supported 100+ mass media campaigns to reduce risky behaviors.

14

We improved data quality and strengthened surveillance systems to help reduce road injuries and deaths in 14 countries.

4,500

We trained 4,500 professionals in road safety communication and surveillance across more than 14 countries.

Why It Matters

Road traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for people aged 5-29 globally, and more than 90% of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. These crashes devastate communities, burden health and emergency response systems, and stunt economic growth.

How We Work

We support national and city-level governments to implement best-practice interventions and policies to prevent road crashes, injuries and deaths.

More than 90% of the 1.19 million deaths and up to 50 million injuries resulting from road traffic crashes occur in low- and middle-income countries, and the vast majority of them are preventable.

Vital Strategies is an implementing partner of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS), a consortium carrying out proven road safety interventions in 14 countries and more than 30 cities around the world. The initiative’s comprehensive, evidence-based approach features strengthening legislation; improving key risky road behaviors with a focus on speeding; improving road injury data surveillance systems; promoting infrastructure improvements and sustainable urban transportation; and advocating for improved vehicle safety standards. Since 2007, BIGRS has saved nearly 1 million lives on the world’s roads.

Vital Strategies, which co-manages with states and cities a strong team of embedded coordinators in local governments around the world, has four main roles in the initiative. We serve as the main liaison between the initiative’s multiple global partners, governments and city agencies to align efforts. We use our expertise to strengthen road crash surveillance systems, and then we use outcome data to inform policy and action. We guide the creation of strategic communication and mass media campaigns to change social norms around road safety. Finally, we manage the government component of the BIGRS grants program to support their efforts in improving national road safety policy frameworks to meet World Health Organization-recommended standards.

Areas of Focus

We support governments to implement best-practice interventions and policies to prevent road crashes, injuries and deaths. We work with national governments for population-level policy change and cities to catalyze impact.