Toronto, Ontario -- The latest DEKRA Road Safety Report warns that much more must be done to reduce the global toll of road crashes.
The 2025 edition of the report, titled The Changing Face of Mobility, highlights dramatic progress in passive safety technology, braking systems and lighting. Modern vehicles protect drivers and passengers far more effectively than those produced even a few years earlier. Crash comparisons in the study show that occupants of older models face a clear survival disadvantage.
Despite these gains, the global burden remains heavy. Road accidents still kill about 1.2 million people worldwide every year and injure millions more. DEKRA stresses that lowering these numbers will require not only safer vehicles but also infrastructure upgrades, strong regulation and coordinated efforts among governments, manufacturers and drivers.
Germany provides one striking example of progress: traffic deaths there have fallen by roughly 70 percent since the 1970s, thanks in part to seatbelt and helmet mandates and tighter drunk driving rules. Yet DEKRA cautions that road safety can never be taken for granted.
“As new forms of mobility emerge — from automated driving to electrification — safety systems and regulations must keep pace,” the report notes. Protecting vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists remains a priority.
To guide future efforts, DEKRA closes its 2025 report with ten demands for road safety. These include calls for continuous driver education, global harmonization of safety standards, stronger oversight of automated driving technologies and more inclusive design for cities and infrastructure.
For collision repairers, the takeaway is clear: even with advanced ADAS features and stronger safety systems, crashes are still a daily reality. While the past 40 years have brought some safety improvements, the road to safer mobility is still long. DEKRA emphasizes that safety must remain a shared and ongoing commitment from industry, government and society members.
