Country Guidelines for the Conduct of Road Safety Management Capacity Reviews and the Specification of Lead Agency Reforms, Investment Strategies and Safe System Projects

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank jointly issued the World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention on World Health Day 2004, dedicated by the WHO to the improvement of global road safety. The report’s publication signaled a growing concern in the global community about the scale of the health losses associated with escalating motorization and a recognition that urgent measures had to be taken to sustainably reduce their economic and social costs. Implementing the report’s recommendations has become a high priority for low and middle-income countries and the guidelines presented in this report have been prepared to assist this task.

The guidelines promote a Safe System approach to road safety and specify a management and investment framework to support the successful implementation of the World Report recommendations. They include practical procedures designed to accelerate knowledge transfer and sustainably scale up country investment to improve road safety results. They set out detailed steps for the conduct of country road safety management capacity reviews and the related specification of lead agency reforms, investment strategies and Safe System projects designed to overcome revealed safety management capacity weaknesses.

The guidelines have been prepared to assist country road safety professionals, World Bank and regional development bank staff, international consultants, community groups, private sector organizations, and all other global, regional and country partners and stakeholders undertaking country road safety investments.