Assessing road safety in Saudi Arabia
The Global status report on road safety (2018) provides a global comparative analysis of road traffic fatalities up to and including 2016. Following its publication, the government of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia began implementing ambitious short-term targets for the reduction of road traffic fatalities and injuries as part of their Vision 2030:
- Reducing the number of traffic accident fatalities per 100,000 population from 28 (2016) to 23 in 2020
- Reducing the number of traffic accident injuries per 100,000 population from 74 (2016) to 66 in 2020.
The Saudi government also approached the World Health Organization to explore how more recent national efforts, such as changes to laws and improved enforcement to reduce road traffic injury might be reflected in future WHO documents. The George Institute and Road Safety Analysis were appointed to evaluate these efforts. This evaluation employs a mixed methods approach including:
- Reviewing country level road safety documentation such as the Kingdom’s 2030 road safety strategy and other related documents as well as global databases/documents featuring Saudi Arabia such as the global status reports;
- Conducting a country mission to meet with key road safety personnel and conduct a survey with key stakeholders; and
- Key informant interviews.
