21% Fewer Deaths — and Still 1.16 Million Lost

New WHO data show that the global road-traffic death rate fell by 21% between 2011 and 2025, despite the addition of more than one billion motor vehicles. Yet road crashes still killed 1.16 million people in 2025, and road traffic injuries remain the leading cause of death among children and young people aged 5–29.

The challenge is not only driver behaviour. More than half of road deaths involve people outside cars — walking, cycling or riding motorcycles. The new UN road-safety declaration therefore reinforces the “safe system” approach: roads, infrastructure, vehicles, speeds and laws should anticipate human error and keep crash impacts within survivable limits. Progress should be measured not only by how efficiently people and vehicles move, but by how reliably mobility systems protect life.