On the occasion of the participation of Sweden’s ambassador to Tunisia, Cecilia Wramsten, in the National Day dedicated to investment in road safety, the Swedish embassy recalled the ambitious objective pursued by the country, where road safety is a national priority.
The slogan “No one should lose their life or be seriously injured on the roads” lies at the heart of the Vision Zero strategy, which aims to achieve zero victims on the roads, i.e., no deaths or serious injuries. This strategy was adopted by Sweden in the late 1990s.
The objective is to prevent, at the source, deadly road collisions and serious injuries through a holistic approach including engineering, citizen engagement, monitoring, evaluation and education.
“The famous three-point seat belt, now used worldwide, was invented by a Volvo engineer in Sweden,” the embassy recalled, adding that Swedish companies like Volvo and Autoliv continue to innovate to make mobility safer for everyone.
The success of this model has translated into concrete results. According to the European Commission, Sweden stood, in 2024, among the safest countries in the European Union for road safety, with a low mortality rate of 20 deaths per million inhabitants.
Road accidents cost the Tunisian economy nearly 1.73 billion dinars in 2023, equivalent to 1.15% of GDP, according to a recent study. Nearly 10,000 cases of death and injury were recorded in the same year.
To put an end to this hemorrhage, and because road safety is not a cost, but an investment in life, Tunisia could draw on the Swedish experience in this area.
How? The study showed that by investing in effective interventions based on evidence, Tunisia could, over the next thirty years, prevent more than 17,300 deaths, reduce hundreds of cases of permanent disability and realize estimated savings of 65.95 billion Tunisian dinars.
Thus, each dinar invested in road safety could generate a return of 12.29 dinars.
