Road crashes are one of the leading causes of fatalities and serious injuries (FSIs) worldwide. Continuing with ‘business as usual’ will see more than 375 million mostly young people killed and injured over the next decade resulting in economic losses of more than US$20 trillion by 2030.

Achieving safer roads, safer vehicles and safer road use is possible. A realignment of incentives across safety outcomes and commercial interests is needed to mobilise and target the estimated $260 billion investment gap needed to halve road deaths and injuries by 2030. Innovative private sector financing and results-based impact investment holds the potential to unlock this win-win outcome to save lives, save money and create jobs worldwide.

New business models and financing instruments to enable greater private investment in road safety have been developed with their viability examined and evaluated across 10 countries in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. A series of solutions have been designed, including eight high-impact project archetypes, a framework for designing road safety projects, and five possible investment structures. Practical examples of results-based financing to improve road infrastructure safety are shared including examples from New Zealand, Australia and Brazil together with the detailed analysis of road injury types and costs saved across the health and insurance sector.

The paper details the steps needed to accelerate private-sector financing of road safety and the role results-based financing can play in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal to halve road deaths and injuries by 2030.