Nine

in

Ten

People

Feel

Safe

on

the

Road.

Less

than

Half

of

Transport

Experts

Agree

15 July 2025

Nine in ten people say they feel safe in their day-to-day road travel. Less than half (45%) of the transport professionals who design, build and operate mobility systems agree. New research from Economist Enterprise, supported by Brembo, reveals a striking "trust gap" between public confidence and expert assessment—which is widest in the markets with the poorest road safety records.
 

The study, Safety in motion: Driving trust in modern mobility, surveyed road users and transport professionals across ten major vehicle-producing markets—Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, the UK and the US—together accounting for around 75% of global vehicle production.

With 1.2 million people killed on the world's roads every year, the study argues that misplaced confidence is an overlooked barrier to progress, calling on industry and policymakers to close the gap by grounding public trust in evidence, transparency and measurable outcomes.

"The research makes clear that road users are far more confident in the safety of their daily travel than mobility experts. This is a serious concern," said Jean Todt, UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Road Safety. "Trust is essential for mobility, but overconfidence can cause people to take unnecessary risks."

Users feel safest where roads are most dangerous

The gap between user and industry confidence is greatest in Brazil, China and India, where 94% of users say they feel safe—the highest among the markets surveyed—compared with just 18% of transport professionals. Yet these markets combined record an average road fatality rate of 16.2 deaths per 100,000 people, around double the study average.
 

"In Brazil, China and India, public confidence has grown alongside rapid, visible modernisation—new infrastructure, smarter vehicles, better technology," said Pratima Singh, Principal of Policy and Insights at Economist Enterprise, who led the research. "But confidence has outpaced actual safety performance. When people believe systems are safer than they are, they often do not exercise the necessary attention to keep them safe on the road.”

Safety is felt unevenly
Trust in mobility safety is not felt equally across demographics. Low-income users are nearly twice as likely as middle- and high income users to report low or mixed confidence in their daily travel safety. Generationally, Millennials are the most confident (94% report high trust), while Gen Z and Baby Boomers are the least trusting—12% and 16% respectively express low or mixed confidence in their day-to-day safety.

The new frontier of safety risk: human-system interaction

As vehicles become more advanced, the way people interact with increasingly automated mobility systems emerges as a key safety concern. Today, only 3% of industry professionals identify mechanical failure as a leading cause of incidents.

Instead, 30% cite misuse or misunderstanding of driver-assistance systems as the greatest cause of mobility safety issues, while 24% point to features that distract users from the road as being the most serious safety risk. Users themselves rank their own behaviour on the road as their biggest concern.

Professionals suggest that the way driver-assistance technologies are marketed may be part of
the problem: 65% believe advertising may overstate system capabilities; 62% say it implies users need to pay less attention; and 60% believe it emphasises benefits while downplaying
limitations.

The public wants stronger safety measures

Despite high confidence, 88% of users support stronger road safety measures—including lower speed limits and greater enforcement—and say they would pay more for safer transport systems. Yet 68% of transport professionals identify poor coordination between regulators and industry as the biggest barrier to improving safety.

"Closing the trust gap requires collective action across the mobility ecosystem," said Matteo Tiraboschi, Executive Chairman of Brembo. "Industry must continue to innovate responsibly, policymakers must create effective regulatory frameworks and together they must help people understand both the capabilities and the limitations of new technologies."

Trust in road safety is built—and breaks down—differently across markets

Trust is shaped less by technology than by local culture, institutions and governance norms—making locally tailored responses essential. The study identifies four distinct trust environments, each demanding a unique response:

• Trust optimists (Brazil, China, India): a 76-point confidence gap—94% of users, 18% of professionals—reflects optimism outpacing outcomes in the study's highest-fatality markets.
• Trust guardians (Japan, South Korea): the narrowest gap (84% vs 70%), built on independent validation and reliability. The risk: institutional trust is fragile when performance quietly erodes.
• Trust pragmatists (France, Germany, Italy): the lowest fatality rates, yet a 39-point gap between industry and consumer confidence. High public trust coexists with scepticism towards technologies that feel opaque or overstated.
• Trust negotiators (the UK, the US): high user confidence (92%) tethered to institutions. The risk: a regulatory failure or corporate cover-up carries outsized consequences.

"Today, people are not safe on the road. To address this silent pandemic, we need responsible innovation, effective regulation and serious investment. Trust on the road should not be a given;
it must be earned. Research and discussion on road safety is important, but only action will save lives," added Mr Todt.

Explore the research: https://insights.economistenterprise.com/technology-innovation/safety-in-motion

For information:

Economist Enterprise: media@economist.com 
Brembo Corporate Communications Manager: daniele.zibetti@brembo.com 
Brembo’s PR Agency: michael.stoecker@edelman.com