Unlocking Economic Growth With Better Road Safety

Overview & Synopsis

While road traffic fatalities and injuries impose large economic and social costs on both individuals and countries, policy makers are too often unaware of the full extent of these costs as they make decisions regarding investments in infrastructure, health care, and law enforcement. In Brazil, road traffic crashes represent a burden of about US$61 billion every year, equivalent to 3.8 percent of gross domestic product—and twice as much as the average infrastructure investment in the country. Improving road safety could unlock significant long-term growth for Brazil. Key steps forward are to: (1) prioritize road safety as a political commitment, (2) align road design standards with international best practices, (3) set road transport policies grounded in data-driven analysis, and (4) manage risk exposure through a safer modal split.