Skip to main content

ITF zero road deaths study wins International Road Safety Award

A new report, Zero Road Deaths and Serious Injuries: Leading a Paradigm Shift in Road Safety, setting out a new approach to road safety has won the 2017 Special Award of the prestigious Prince Michael of Kent International Road Safety Awards. The study by a group of 30 international road safety experts from 24 countries, led by the International Transport Forum at the OECD, reviews the experiences of countries that have made it their long-term objective to eliminate fatal road crashes. Originating i
December 14, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
A new report, Zero Road Deaths and Serious Injuries: Leading a Paradigm Shift in Road Safety, setting out a new approach to road safety has won the 2017 Special Award of the prestigious Prince Michael of Kent International Road Safety Awards.

The study by a group of 30 international road safety experts from 24 countries, led by the International Transport Forum at the OECD, reviews the experiences of countries that have made it their long-term objective to eliminate fatal road crashes.

Originating in Sweden, the report indicates that 88 European cities with a population above 100,000 have had no road fatalities over the course of a whole year. The biggest among them are Nottingham in the UK, Aachen, Germany and Espoo, Finland.

Sixteen European towns, nine in the United Kingdom, six in Germany and one in Norway, experienced no road deaths for five years running. In Sweden, not a single child died as result of a bicycle crash in Sweden in 2008.

According to the World Health Organisation, 1.25 million people are killed by traffic every year.  Road crashes are the leading cause of death worldwide for young people aged 15 to 29. Traffic is the ninth leading cause of death overall, killing more people than malaria, while 90 per cent of road deaths occur in low-income countries, where rapid motorisation drives up fatalities. In many developed countries, the progress made over the past decades has stalled.

The ITF says new thinking is required if the target set by the international community of halving road deaths by 2020 is to be met

The report offers guidance for leaders that want to drastically reduce the road deaths in their communities and sets out how a ‘safe system’ approach to road safety can underpin this goal.

Related Content

  • February 2, 2012
    Need for balance on UK speed enforcement funding cuts
    Trevor Ellis, Chairman of the ITS UK Enforcement Interest Group, considers the implications of the UK Government's decision to withdraw funding for road safety camera partnerships
  • October 17, 2016
    Two seconds – the difference between life and death
    Professor Donald Fisher has spent 15 years identifying factors that increase the crash risk of novice and older drivers. His findings highlight the difference between living and dying, Colin Sowman reports.
  • January 4, 2022
    IRF promotes safe roads in Morocco & Pakistan
    Geneva-based body coordinates private sector efforts supported by TotalEnergies Foundation
  • October 2, 2019
    Chicago pushes traffic safety plan for ‘poorer’ areas
    The city of Chicago has unveiled a plan to help improve traffic safety in its poorer areas, focusing on the south and west sides. Mayor Lori Lightfoot says studies show that residents living in communities experiencing “economic hardship” are three times more likely to die as a result of a traffic crash. “We must change how we design and use streets, as any traffic-related death is unacceptable when we, as a city, have the tools and strategies to prevent the conditions that lead to these tragedies,” Ligh