It is a sad fact that road fatalities remain the second biggest cause of premature death after HIV-Aids, killing 1.24 million people each year— half of which are pedestrians, cyclists or motorcyclists. And as the Global Safety Review goes to press, evidence is emerging that in many advanced countries road fatality rates are no longer falling and are in some instances rising. According to data from the European Transport Safety Council, 12 EU member states including France, Ireland, Germany and the UK registered an increase in road deaths last year compared with 2013. Across the EU as a whole, total road deaths saw the smallest annual reduction since 2001. Provisional 2014 figures from the US show fatalities edged marginally downwards (-0.1%) although the total is still above the 2011 level. So there remains plenty of work to be done and not only on the ‘big killers’ (speeding, not using seat belts, red light running and drunk-driving) which still account for the majority of deaths, but also on other challenges: inexperienced drivers; ageing drivers; distracted drivers, rural roads… the list goes on. While good road design and crash mitigation, clear marking and appropriate signage must continue to be prequisites for safety, countries wanting to retain (or improve) a good safety record will have to introduce new thinking to counter these other challenges. Inside this magazine special issue, some of the problems are covered and is looked around the world for possible solutions, because road safety is a prime example of ‘think globally, act locally’. (Author/publisher)
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