Improving Road Safety

Road safety is a pressing global public health challenge that receives limited attention and insufficient resources to address the problem. Road traffic crashes are the 12^th leading cause of death globally, and the leading cause of death for ages 5-29. Every year, road traffic crashes claim over 1 million lives and injure as many as 50 million people.

Cities and countries, particularly low- and middle-income countries where over 90% of road traffic crashes and deaths occur, often lack the expertise and support they need to tackle key road safety threats: weak and inadequate road safety laws; limited police enforcement of existing laws; minimal or nonexistent vehicle safety standards; and streets designed solely for vehicle use that fail to consider other road users like pedestrians. In response to this challenge, Bloomberg Philanthropies has committed $500 million since 2007 to support road safety interventions in low- and middle-income countries and cities around the world.