Much has been written about the safety benefits that autonomous vehicles should bring. But the ‘self-driving car’ will not solve all our road safety problems within the next couple of years. The challenge is much too big. The formal and informal communication between road users can’t be completely automated just yet. And, with a growing lifespan of vehicles, we will be confronted with older cars for decades. That’s the reality. Connectivity will also bring safety value to autonomous vehicles by making them cooperative, but again, all this will take time.

Infrastructure ‘Star Ratings’ are today incorporated in the agreed global tracking framework. ‘Star Ratings’ and ‘Risk Mapping’ help civil society, elected representatives, authorities and researchers share a common language about how safe roads are – and how countries compare.