Background Road crashes claim a staggering 3,600 lives and injure over 100,000 people daily, yet the economic burden and policy-level evidence remain understudied.

Objective To address this gap, iRAP developed the Safety Insights Explorer (https://irap.org/safety-insights-explorer), an interactive online tool providing data and analysis on road crash injuries, their costs, and the potential impact of infrastructure investments.

Policy Analysis The Safety Insights Explorer draws on data from the World Health Organization (WHO), Transport Accident Commission (TAC), Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and iRAP safety assessments, and comprises three key elements:

• Estimates of road crash injuries, categorized by country, age, and sex.

• Star Ratings and indicators for over 500,000 kilometers of roads across 84 countries.

• Economic business cases for safer roads in every country, highlighting the life-saving potential of aligning with the UN Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety.

Policy Implications Beyond the emotional toll, road crashes incur substantial healthcare costs, with half of these expenses arising beyond two years post-crash. The Safety Insights Explorer underscores the disproportionate impact on girls and boys, highlighting the daily suffering of 16,300 individuals aged 19 or younger. These crashes are estimated to cost $717 million daily, with severe brain injuries alone accounting for $192 million.

The tool sheds light on the prevalence of high-risk 1- and 2-star roads, emphasizing the need for safer infrastructure. While nearly half of all vehicle travel occurs on 3-star or better roads, this percentage drops significantly for vulnerable road users like motorcyclists, pedestrians, and cyclists.

The Safety Insights Explorer demonstrates the potential impact of achieving Global Road Safety Performance Target 4. By aligning with the Global Plan targets, over 450,000 lives could be saved annually, translating to over 1,200 lives saved every day.

Conclusions The Safety Insights Explorer has garnered significant attention since its launch in early 2023 and serves as a valuable resource for promoting engagement and debate on the appropriate scale of response to road crash trauma, emphasizing the need for greater recognition of road safety and the benefits of increased investment.