Over A Million Annual Road Crash Deaths Prompt A New $350M Investment

InnovationHealthcareOver A Million Road Crash Deaths Annually Prompt New $350M InvestmentByBruce Y. Lee,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Bruce Y. Lee, M.D., MBA, covers health, medicine, wellness and scienceFollow AuthorApr 28, 2026, 04:00am EDTApr 28, 2026, 04:45am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.Working with the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety, the government of Colombia in 2022 reduced speed limits nationwide to 50 kph in urban zones and 30 kph in residential or school zones. (Photo: Bloomberg Philanthropies)Bloomberg PhilanthropiesOn the road again. Apparently, Bloomberg Philanthropies just can’t wait to get on the road again when it comes to investments. On Tuesday, at the CityLab 2026 meeting in Madrid, Spain, billionaire philanthropist Mike Bloomberg announced another $350 million commitment to the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety. The urgency comes from the fact that road traffic injuries are still the leading cause of deaths worldwide for those five to 29 years of age, half a decade after I first reported it in Forbes. Bringing More Attention To A Killer Of Over A Million People Each Year Now, really trying to prevent such injuries was kind of a road not taken in many countries before Bloomberg Philanthropies started its road safety work back in 2007 with a $9 million pilot program. Yep, despite road traffic crashes being among the top ten killers worldwide, this vast global health problem wasn’t getting nearly the requisite attention. Bloomberg Philanthropies has since sought to change all that by investing a total of over $500 million through several phases of work that have already spanned nearly two decades. But as Bloomberg, the founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies, has emphasized, it is still the case that “road crashes don’t receive enough attention, even though they take a staggering toll on human life and health – and so many of the injuries and deaths are preventable.” For example, how many people know that road traffic crashes claim around 1.19 million lives and injure 20 to 50 million more people each year around the world, according to the World Health Organization’s Global Status Report on Road Safety 2023. And how many people realize that road traffic crashes cost most countries three percent of their gross domestic product? As Michael Bloomberg, the founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies, has emphasized, it is still the case that “road crashes don’t receive enough attention, even though they take a staggering toll on human life and health – and so many of the injuries and deaths are preventable.” (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC))Getty Images for Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC)That latter OMG to the GDP factoid is because road traffic crashes occur “particularly among people of the most productive ages, young adults,” emphasized Kelly Henning, MD, who’s led the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Public Health program since its inception in 2007. “And that’s a very important piece for the economies of the countries where we’re working.” If you lose someone before he or she reaches 30 years of age, that’s potentially decades of lost productivity to a country and its sectors. MORE FOR YOUThe Road Safety Initiative Has Helped 188…

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