Road Safety

Zusha! ("Protest!" in Swahili) is an award-winning road safety campaign that empowers passengers of Kenya's matatu minibuses to speak up against reckless driving. Evocative stickers placed inside vehicles encourage collective action. A rigorous randomized evaluation of 11,737 matatus (2011-2013) demonstrated remarkable results: 25-32% reduction in insurance claims, 1 km/h decrease in average speed, an estimated 140 fewer road accidents and 55 lives saved annually. Cost-effectiveness was exceptional at US$10-45 per disability-adjusted life-year saved. Stickers with images (car crashes, passengers reproaching drivers) outperformed text-only messages. The campaign scaled nationwide in 2015 and expanded to Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda.

Vietnam's NCHAP was an integrated multi-sectoral campaign launched in 2015 to increase child helmet use following the successful 2007 universal helmet law. The campaign combined public awareness through mass media, school-based interventions, enhanced police enforcement, and capacity building for government departments. Evaluation in Vietnam's three largest cities showed student helmet prevalence increased from 36% to 69% immediately after enhanced enforcement. AIP Foundation's Protec factory produces affordable, quality helmets and reinvests profits into educational programs. The 2007 law alone is estimated to have saved $3.5 billion USD and prevented 500,000 head injuries and 15,000 fatalities over a decade.

BIGRS is a $240 million initiative (2020-2025) implementing evidence-based road safety interventions across 15 countries accounting for 60% of global road deaths, including India, Vietnam, Brazil, Mexico, and Nigeria. The program works at national and city levels (30 cities including Mumbai, New Delhi, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City) to strengthen road safety laws, train police in enforcement best practices, redesign high-crash corridors, and raise consumer awareness of vehicle safety. Since 2007, BIGRS is estimated to have saved 312,000 lives and prevented 11.5 million injuries, with 75% of impact attributed to stronger legislation.

Launched by the United Nations in 2024, #MakeASafetyStatement is a global celebrity-driven campaign to halve road-related fatalities by 2030. The campaign mobilizes political will through billboards, social media, and partnerships with JCDecaux and Saatchi & Saatchi across 1,000+ cities in 80+ countries. Celebrities contribute personal safety pledges ("I drive slow," "I don't drive under the influence") to normalize safe behaviors. The campaign addresses road accidents as the leading killer of people aged 5-29, emphasizing simple rules: wear seatbelts and helmets, drive slowly, avoid distracted or impaired driving.

Vision Zero, adopted by Sweden's Parliament in 1997, fundamentally shifted road safety philosophy from blaming individual users to designing systems that accommodate human error. The ethical principle holds that "life and health can never be exchanged for other benefits." Implementation includes 2+1 roads with central barriers, roundabouts replacing intersections, 30 km/h urban speed limits, and vehicle safety investments. Since adoption, Swedish traffic fatalities have more than halved despite increased traffic. The approach influenced policies globally, including New York City's Vision Zero and the OECD Safe System Approach.

South Africa's Arrive Alive campaign, led by the Department of Transport, addresses drunk driving - responsible for 50% of road fatalities where drivers have BAC above 0.05g/100ml. The RTMC's "Get There. No Regrets" campaign uses hard-hitting TV/radio ads depicting accident aftermath. The campaign also reintroduced Danny the Cat mascot for children's road safety education and works toward integrating road safety into school curriculum. Partners include NGOs like South Africans Against Drunk Driving (SADD) and corporate initiatives. Despite challenges with enforcement and conviction rates, the campaign targets 30-50% reduction in accidents.

The Global Road Safety Partnership's "Safe to School - Safe to Home" is a comprehensive child safety initiative launched in 2013 in Vietnam, South Africa, and China. The program assesses road safety conditions around schools, implements low-cost traffic engineering improvements (speed bumps, crosswalks, signage), provides road safety education for children, parents, and communities, and enhances enforcement of helmet use, parking restrictions, and speed limits in school zones. The initiative trained teachers to integrate road safety into curriculum and engaged parents as safety advocates.

Named after Thailand's shockingly low 7% child helmet use rate, this AIP Foundation campaign uses creative methods to increase awareness and adoption. Despite Thailand having 73-74% of road deaths among motorcyclists, child helmet laws are poorly enforced. The campaign employs design contests, helmet-themed concerts, school-based donation programs, and pilot interventions including helmet banks, taxi stand distributions, and enhanced police enforcement. AIP Foundation works with the National Road Safety Directing Center sub-committee, training children, teachers, parents, and communities on helmet importance.

Developed through the Bloomberg RS10 project, the WHO toolkit documents lessons from 30+ mass media campaigns across 9 countries addressing speeding, drunk driving, and non-use of helmets, seatbelts, and child restraints. Campaigns from Russia, Brazil, India, China, Turkey, Kenya, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Mexico used TV/radio PSAs highlighting consequences including death, injury, disability, fines, and imprisonment. The toolkit provides evidence-based guidance for designing effective campaigns in low- and middle-income countries where 90% of road traffic fatalities occur.

The Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Policy Program developed the African Road Safety Leadership Program to build capacities among multi-sectoral agencies managing road safety. Africa has the highest road fatality rate globally (26.6 per 100,000 people, ~650 deaths daily), with 39% among pedestrians. The program increases awareness of the Safe System approach, develops leadership capabilities for road safety management, and creates networks for sharing best practices. It supports the African Road Safety Observatory (ARSO) for data collection and contributed to initiatives like Ghana's "Walk Safely" Pilot Project promoting risk awareness.

The United Nations Mine Action Service implements Explosive Ordnance Risk Education as one of the five pillars of mine action globally. EORE aims to reduce injuries and fatalities by raising awareness and promoting behavioral change through public information campaigns, education, training, and community liaison. Activities include SMS campaigns to all mobile users, school-based initiatives, radio broadcasts, community workshops, and International Mine Awareness Day events (April 4). UNMAS utilizes a two-way communication approach - communities inform organizations about contamination locations while organizations advise on cleared/hazardous areas. In Iraq alone, UNMAS reached 18,015 people with EORE in 2025 while removing 506 IEDs and 18,277 ERW items.

The HALO Trust conducts comprehensive mine risk education in over 30 countries, reaching over 1 million people annually. In 2022 alone, HALO conducted 71,949 EORE classes educating 1,055,653 adults and children. Programs teach identification of explosives, high-risk locations (former military trenches), warning signs/markings, and reporting procedures. Special attention targets children through puppet shows and card games, as unexploded bombs can resemble toys. In Syria, HALO has safety trained 708,369 people since 2016 using innovative approaches including online campaigns. Evaluation found 92.7% of people near clearance sites reported increased physical security, with 87.8% reporting improved livelihoods.

The Mines Advisory Group implements gender and age-appropriate, context-specific risk education across conflict-affected regions including Cambodia, Iraq, Laos, Lebanon, South Sudan, and Vietnam. Since 1989, MAG has helped over 20 million people in 70 countries. Community liaison teams assess contamination levels and prioritize areas of greatest need, informing communities about clearance activities and follow-up requirements. Programs use engaging methods like puppet shows, coloring sheets, songs, and dances to teach children to recognize landmines, report dangerous items, and respond in emergencies. The approach emphasizes behavioral change to reduce risk-taking that leads to accidents.

Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) conducts Explosive Ordnance Risk Education across mine-affected communities in countries like Palestine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and conflict zones globally. Since 1992, NPA has cleared over one billion square meters of land and removed 2+ million landmines across 45 countries. Beyond traditional EORE, NPA implements innovative Conflict Preparedness and Protection (CPP) programs that teach self-protection during active conflict, including how to prevent injuries from explosive weapons and adopt safer behaviors during and after attacks. In Palestine, EORE is delivered through accredited national NGO partners, building local capacity.

DanChurchAid launched EORE in Ukraine immediately after Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, recognizing the country as heavily contaminated with mines and ERW. The "Watch Your Step!" program (June-December 2022) trained Explosive Ordnance identifiers among first responders including firefighters and foresters in collaboration with State Emergency Service Ukraine. Materials include posters, leaflets, animated cartoons, a board game, and online training for teachers. DCA supports community-led initiatives through flexible small grants to local organizations, enabling contextually appropriate responses. The goal is safe return for internally displaced people and community reconstruction.