Sharing Road Safety Developing an International Framework for Crash Modification Functions

Each year about 1.3 million people are killed and another 50 million people are injured on roads worldwide. These road crashes cost countries between 1 and 3 percent of their GDP. Many of these crashes can be prevented by effective countermeasures. This report helps identify the most effective safety countermeasures. Policy makers need to justify expenditure on road safety in terms of effectiveness, competing for the scarce resources available. The risk of making poor decisions and the cost of making better decisions can be reduced by the use of reliable studies on how effective safety measures are, based on Crash Modification Functions (CMFs). This report shows that there is a prospect for significant advances and major cost savings through the transfer of results internationally, allowing for more rapid adoption and dissemination of new life-saving safety measures. The report serves as a guide to how research results can be shared internationally. It provides checklist for systematic review of road safety studies and a framework for standardising methodology. The report targets the road safety research community but will also find an audience among policy makers at all levels of government. The report highlights the value of Crash Modification Functions and the importance of ensuring practicioners use the best CMFs available.