How many road deaths is too many?

16 December 2021

In 2010 the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 64/255 which declared the period 2011-2020 as the ‘Decade of Action for Road Safety’. By increasing road safety activities, the goal was to reduce the forecast level of road traffic fatalities.

Specific casualty reduction targets were adopted through the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets to stimulate action over 15 years.

The UN’s Voluntary global performance targets for road safety risk factors and service delivery mechanisms built on the SDGs and associated targets. These set out 12 specific targets up to 2030, covering the ‘safe system’ pillars of road safety management, safer roads and mobility, safe vehicles, safe road users and post-crash response.

This paper from TRL published in April 2021 predominantly focuses on discussion and analysis of road safety targets at an EU/state level. However, the benefits to carrying out analyses at smaller geographic levels are considered, especially in cases where priorities for a city may not directly align with the priorities for the country.  It is well worth reading again.