Each year, road traffic crashes kill 1.19 million people and injure up to 50 million more around the world—tragedies that can almost always be prevented. As an implementing partner of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS), Vital Strategies works with governments and partners in 14 countries and 27 cities worldwide to carry out proven road safety interventions. BIGRS strategies range from strengthening legislation and promoting infrastructure improvements to mounting strategic communication campaigns to minimize risky road behaviors, with a focus on speeding, and building support for strong road safety policies.
These evidence-based interventions have borne fruit. From 2007 to 2018, the combined efforts of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety and its partner governments has saved an estimated 312,000 lives worldwide. The third phase of BIGRS, 2020-2025, is committed to increasing the number of lives saved to 600,000 and preventing up to 22 million injuries.
Vital Strategies is highlighting the work of Asmeret Nigus, Technical Advisor, Africa. Asmeret joined the Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety in Addis Ababa in 2016 as a communication officer, embedded in the Addis Ababa Transport Programs Management Office, focused on supporting Addis Ababa mass media campaigns and engaging local journalists to expand and improve reporting on road safety and reimagine it as a critical public health and development issue.
Asmeret joined us at Vital Strategies in October 2020 as a communication manager, focusing on road safety mass media campaigns in Kampala, Uganda. She now works as a technical advisor for road safety communication, supporting the initiative across four priority locations in Africa.
What is road safety, and why is it considered a public health issue?
Road safety refers to the measures and strategies put in place to prevent all road users—drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and cyclists—from being injured or killed on the road. It is a public health issue because road traffic injuries are a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, especially among young people. The World Health Organization estimates that 1.19 million people die each year due to road crashes, and millions more suffer injuries, some leading to permanent disabilities. This impact extends beyond individuals and families, placing a significant burden on health care systems and economies.
What are the most common misconceptions about road safety?
The most serious misconception may also be the most common: that road crashes are accidents and unavoidable. In reality, most road crashes are preventable with proper implementation of data–driven interventions like safe road design, strategic communication to change behavior and social norms, and enforcement of traffic laws.
Another misconception is that road safety only concerns drivers. Everyone is a road user—whether you’re driving, walking, cycling or riding as a passenger. Everyone is at risk and we all have the responsibility to use the road properly.
Finally, too many people believe that speed limits are just “suggestions.” Speeding is one of the most significant risk factors in road traffic safety, causing many crashes and worsening the effects of other risky behaviors, such as drink driving. Effective measures include enforcing speed limits, implementing traffic-calming measures like speed bumps and roundabouts, and communication to change driver attitudes and behaviors. By reducing speeding, we can save lives, prevent injuries, and make roads safer for everyone.
How does Vital Strategies improve road safety?
Vital Strategies works with local governments, the media, international partners and civil society to implement evidence-based interventions that can reduce road crashes. Vital has three main roles in BIGRS: coordination, surveillance and communication. We coordinate among the Initiative’s global partners, governments and city agencies to align efforts, and co-manage staff embedded in local governments, which I am very familiar with, since I started working with BIGRS as an embedded communication officer.
Vital also has a team that supports local officials to strengthen their data and surveillance initiatives to pinpoint danger zones and minimize risk. And our communication team works with embedded staff, government and local communication agencies to implement evidence-based, mass media campaigns that aim to improve driver behavior by highlighting the dangers of speeding and changing social norms. We also work with media stakeholders so that road safety is not only recognized as a public health issue, but so there is greater visibility around road safety initiatives.
The evidence from crash data and campaign evaluation findings shows that these interventions are working. In Addis Ababa, for example, Vital Strategies worked with the local government and other international partners to reduce drink driving. Vital Strategies was responsible for coordinating partners under the initiative, strengthening data and surveillance, and mounting three hard-hitting mass media campaigns on this issue. As a result, drink driving decreased from about 10% in 2016 to just 1% in 2019.
What inspired you to work in this field?
When transitioning from an academician to a practitioner, I joined a government organization in Addis Ababa that works on road safety and transport. As a result, I was exposed to the burden that the people are facing from road crashes that I had been completely unaware of. I was shocked after seeing the devastating impact that road crashes could bring on families, communities and even myself: In 2018, I experienced it for myself when my husband and daughter picked me up from my office and we were hit by a truck on the way home. The crash damaged one side of our car and fortunately nothing happened to any of us, but I will never forget the feeling, the look in my daughter eyes and her cry when the truck hit us.
But most importantly, I learned that this is a preventable issue and that there are interventions that could be implemented to reduce this devastating problem, it inspired me to continue working in this field.
Road safety combines elements of public health, policy and community engagement, which aligns with my passion for using communication to drive positive change.
Given your background in communication, how would you describe how media affects road safety policies and behaviors?
Media plays a crucial role in shaping public attitudes and behaviors toward road safety. Through targeted mass media campaigns, we can increase people’s understanding of the risks of speeding, promote safer driving behaviors and build support for policy changes by creating demand for safer roads and stricter enforcement of traffic laws.
The media also play a significant role in increasing the visibility of road safety as a public health issue, as well as influencing decision–makers and advocating for policy change to save lives.
What are some of the key partnerships within your work that have led to success?
Partnerships are vital to the success of our road safety work. We have partnerships with government agencies, public health organizations, NGOs, community-based organizations and the media to implement comprehensive road safety strategies. Road safety cannot be achieved in a vacuum. We need collaboration among partners. By working closely with local governments, we can tailor interventions to fit the specific needs of each community, leading to more sustainable and effective outcomes and ultimately reducing crashes, injuries and fatalities.
About Vital Strategies’ Road Safety Program:
Vital Strategies is an implementing partner of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS), supporting governments in carrying out proven road safety interventions around the world. We use our expertise to help cities strengthen road crash data systems, and then use that data to inform policy and action. We guide the creation of strategic communication and mass media campaigns to change road user behavior. Finally, we serve as the main liaison among the initiative’s multiple global partners, governments, and city agencies to align efforts in implementing policy, infrastructure, enforcement, communication and surveillance programs.
For more information on Vital Strategies’ work in road safety, please visit: https://www.vitalstrategies.org/programs/road-safety/