'Road safety is no accident': building efficient road safety lead agencies, strategies and targets in the world, 2009-2023.

The objective of this study is to examine the pattern in building road safety lead agencies, national strategies and national quantified targets in the world in the period 2009-2023. This was done through an analysis of reported presence of road safety lead agencies, national strategies and national quantified targets based on data collected through a questionnaire for five global status reports on road safety. The results show that there has been a steady growth in road safety lead agencies, national strategies and quantified targets globally and by WHO regions in the period 2009-2023. While, on the one hand, substantial increases in these three governance features were observed in Africa and the Americas, on the other hand, slight declines were observed in these features in Europe and some countries in the Pacific. In conclusion, there has been a steady growth in the number of road safety lead agencies, national strategies and quaantified targets globally and by WHO regions in the period 2009-2023. However, there were declines in these governance tools in some countries. Further resarch into how efficiently these tools are being used is needed to provide insights into the effectiveness of road safety policies, organisations and institutions worldwide.