The absolute number of deaths in several industrialised countries has been (more or less) static for several years while death rates have been declining only marginally. This paper explores the options for a way forward by examining a sample of national road safety strategies. It stresses the need for a guiding vision, the need for strategic thinking (rather than trying to be all things to all people), setting realistic and effective targets, and adopting rigorous measures for selecting countermeasures. Scandinavian analyses suggest that further major gains in safety are available if nations are prepared to pay the mobility cost. Much lower reductions in road death may flow from strategies that avoid the 'loss' of mobility. Governments need to explicitly address the implied trade-offs. The context surrounding the trade-off decision process is undergoing rapid change. There is an urgent need to make the process more strategic, without losing its current inclusiveness. (a).
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