Background The WHO has called for increased global collaborations on road traffic injury prevention. Despite their stated importance, there is limited empirical understanding about how to forge effective global road safety collaborations in low-and-middle-income countries.

Aims To understand the key elements of effective global road safety collaborations from the perspective of domestic stakeholders.

Methods Using purposive sampling, 19 key informants from the Bloomberg Global Road Safety Project (RS10) in Turkey were interviewed.

Results The RS10 project was successful at bringing together the diverse set of players involved in road safety. Challenges, however, included the lack of clarity, inadequate communication, frequent changes in governmental representatives for the project, and international players' inadequate awareness of the local context. It was recommended that effective global road safety collaborations should have very clear roles and responsibilities for all the organisations involved, frequent communication and information exchange, as well as key local personnel to assist with implementation.

Significance Results from this study highlighted the need for more investment in the management and evaluation of these collaborations. Best practices should be developed such that stakeholders can work effectively together to tackle this growing public health epidemic.