Around 1.25 million people are killed on the world's roads every year, according to the World Health Organisation.
Between 20 and 50 million people are seriously injured. They cause enormous economic losses, estimated at around 2% to 5% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of countries.
"Clearly, such levels of road deaths and serious injuries are unacceptable both in terms of human suffering as well as societal and economic costs and not sustainable," according to the International Transport Forum (ITF).
"A common feature of several well-performing countries is that they have adopted a long-term policy goal that no-one should be killed or seriously injured in a crash on their roads."
Drastically reducing road fatalities and serious injuries on a global scale will need more than increasing efforts in implementing traditional road safety measures, states a new report by the ITF.