Road safety

the long version

Every day, thousands are injured and almost 350 people are killed on the roads of OECD countries. Although new technologies - including intelligent speed adaptation and collision avoidance systems - are being developed and could significantly reduce this toll by perhaps as much as 40%, considerable challenges need to be overcome in order to achieve these benefits. Billions of dollars are currently being spent to develop new technologies which are not related to safety, and many of these may have an impact on road safety if action is not taken to ensure their compatibility with current road systems. This report evaluates the impacts of new technologies on road safety and provides recommendations to governments and industry to insure that fatalities and injuries in road traffic can be reduced.