Matts-Ake Belin has worked for the Swedish Government since 1990 on road safety issues.  His primary focus has been on road safety policies and strategies.  He has a BA degree in political science from the University of Uppsala, Sweden.  During 2006, he served as a visiting academic at the Accident Research Centre at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

He joined the World Health Organization in early 2007, where he worked as a Scientist for the Unintentional Injury Prevention Team (UIP).  He assists in coordinating various road safety activities as part of the UN Road Safety Collaboration, promoting capacity building at national and local levels and supporting Regional Advisers in the development of road safety plans.

This lecture presents an overview of how the road safety work in Sweden has developed over the years.  Guided by theories about safety culture, Sweden has, during a 50-year-period, developed its road safety policies and strategies.  The first important milestone was the establishing of a special national agency for road safety in 1968.

Vision Zero is a policy innovation and interventions based on this have contributed in a reduction in fatalities by more than 50% during a ten-year-period.  This is nothing less than an outstanding result especially for a country which was already performing well.  This is very promising because it shows that continuous improvements of both strategies and interventions can help us do better.  However, there is still a long way to go until we have reached a safe road transport system where we have eliminated fatalities and serious injuries and then, the challenge would be to maintain a safe system.  Hopefully Sweden, after a few years of stagnation, will now renew the Vision Zero and initiate a new era in  traffic safety.