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During the global pandemic, an international road safety on-line collaboration between Australia and Cambodia was initiated to design, develop and deliver a virtual training course in June/July 2021. Ten highly experienced Australian and Cambodian road safety practitioners voluntarily combined with the enthusiasm and dedication of 53 committed Cambodian young peer influencers to achieve highly productive results. In the month following the training sessions, the youth syndicates produced promotional leaflets, banners, infographics and 10 short videos to deliver tailored messages to over 26,000 community members in villages and cities in Cambodia. The communications media included Facebook and TikTok as well as workshops and direct messaging at vaccination points. This program epitomises what can be achieved with the goodwill of road safety professionals using an international network to combine with enthusiastic, dedicated and committed youth peer influencers, all within a framework of voluntary community services. Actions, outcomes and the impact of this knowledge-transfer and youth empowerment initiative is presented as an example of a successful road safety intervention.

Professional road crash investigation, complemented by intelligent analysis and dynamic actions provide the foundation for road safety reform. However, to date, the real potential resulting from police investigative findings have not been fully realised due to the lack of streamlined connectivity from the crash scene to the reform process. Such deficiencies include inadequate investigations, inadequate data management, convoluted processes, system delays, inadequate analysis and limited immediate and mid-term actions which should be generated following thorough and efficient investigations. A review of processes across high, medium and low-income countries has identified a more effective approach to achieving results in road safety reform across all road safety disciplines. The simple AAA framework to ‘Acquire, Analyse and Action’ is presented as a contemporary model to ensure an evidence-based foundation drives road safety reform to identify root cause analysis locally, nationally and globally. This provides structure, discipline and purpose as well as technical skill and competence to achieve practical recommendations as preventative measures for crash reduction. A multi-disciplined expert review team to validate/assess/modify these recommendations in serious crashes ensures constructive countermeasures are prioritised and actioned. This facilitates a paradigm shift in thinking and analysis to achieve a continuous improvement process designed to reduce road trauma and save lives.

The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran) has embarked on a challenging project aiming to demonstrate how to make road travel safer through speed management measures based on Safe System Approach (SSA) and Result Based Management (RBM). This follows from mounting concern in curbing a high death rate from motor vehicle crashes in recent years. However, despite the Government’s commitment to address this problem, there have been setbacks owing to the challenges of putting in place a strong collaborative framework involving all the agencies charged with responsibilities for road engineering, traffic law enforcement and public education. Iran has established a National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) to lead and coordinate actions. In implementing a demonstration project, specific partnership arrangements have been established at national and provincial levels, as well as pillar-based project teams in 3 provinces. This paper examines the governance structure and opportunities to strengthen the collaborative management of the project and how similar programs can be established and executed in other countries to improve road safety based on SSA and RBM.

The level of road trauma is high in the Eastern Mediterranean Region with the Islamic Republic of Iran having a particularly high fatality rate at 20.5 per 100,000 population. The Government, assisted by the World Health Organisation (WHO), committed to implementing demonstration projects in three provinces that will form the basis of road safety actions to be advanced by the WHO across the Region. In recognition that speed management is a pivotal factor in achieving a safer road and traffic system, and as a component of the project, a review was carried out in 2019 by a team of international experts in the field in collaboration with national consultants. This review was undertaken in consideration of the Safe System Approach and the Results-Based Management Approach. The findings of this review and their implications for future actions in Iran are discussed in this paper.

This paper presents aspects of policy and practice observed in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) and the lessons which can be learned from these and similar initiatives. The role of non-government organisations in capacity building programs and advocacy is identified as a strong foundation for road safety reform. Political will is discussed as a critical component of reform together with the need for a holistic approach to ensure sustainability. The requirement for a strong evidence-base to support evaluation is discussed and the need to ensure strong governance over law enforcement is profiled. Good practice programs are described as well as the importance of harnessing the enthusiasm and dedication of youth in developing and championing initiatives for safer community outcomes. While the lack of resources and financial support may appear as an impediment to some, if viewed as a surmountable challenge, safety outcomes can be achieved. The findings demonstrate that there is a rich environment in LMICs from which to source and undertake key and critical research to stimulate continuous road safety improvement especially in those countries where road trauma remains at a comparatively high level.

In this Special Issue, we encouraged authors to submit papers on road safety in LMICs for peer review. The four peer-reviewed papers cover: • Lack of pedestrian safety in Chennai, India; • Impact of density and urban design features on road safety outcomes in Bogota, Colombia • Availability and usage rates of seat belts in Malawi; and • Analyses of the context of speed management in Cambodia to improve implementation. In addition, we have three contributed articles: • Good practice road safety examples in LMICs; • Features of LMICs making road safety more challenging; and • Review of road safety management and infrastructure in Romania and recommended actions. We hope you find this Special Issue interesting and helpful in your work.