Transport and Covid-19: responses and resources

ITF work on Road Safety

Over 1.3 million people are killed on the world's roads every year, and tens of millions are seriously injured. Improving road safety in ITF's 66 member countries and beyond is a priority for ITF.

International Traffic Safety Data and Analysis Group (IRTAD)

Through its permanent working group on road safety, known as IRTAD, ITF aims to advance international knowledge about road safety and contribute to reduce the number of traffic casualties. With 80 members and observers from more than 40 countries, IRTAD has become a central force in the promotion of international co-operation on road crash data and its analysis. It has been hailed as a “model of a multi-country effort” and its crash data described as “simply the best in the world”. Read more

Safer City Streets

Safer City Streets is the global traffic safety network for liveable cities. In the network, cities improve their urban road safety performance by sharing data, experiences and knowledge – by learning from each other. Since the official launch of the project at the UN conference Habitat III in 2016, more than 40 cities have joined Safer City Streets. ITF manages the network which collects, validates and analyses relevant data from cities in a dedicated database. Read more

Regional Road Safety Observatories

In many countries, there is a wide gap between official road safety statistics and estimates by WHO which are published in the Global Status Report. Improvements in crash data collection and analysis systems are needed not only to know precisely the total number of road deaths, but also the number of serious injuries. Tangible progress in road safety in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 will require monitoring key road safety performance indicators. Regional road safety observatories present an opportunity for joint regional efforts to improve road safety data collection. Important economies of scale can also be achieved by adopting a regional approach.

Ibero-American Road Safety Observatory (OISEVI)

African Road Safety Observatory

Asia-Pacific Road Safety Observatory (media release)

Road safety publications

ITF's flagship road safety publication is the Road Safety Annual Report which provides an overview of road safety performance for 41 countries. Other ITF research publications explore the use of technology to improve road safety, safety measures for cities, and research work into specific areas like micromobility and trucks.

Go to ITF road safety research outputs

The case for a 30km/h speed limit in cities (Transport Policy Matters blog) 

Implementing the Safe System: An ITF Working Group

The Working Group seeks to develop an operational framework for the implementation of a safe system approach to road safety policy making, regardless of the level of development of the country or city concerned. The Group reviews examples of successful implementation of the approach to develop indicators for monitoring progress. Read more

Videos

Nine facts on road safety explained