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The program was very interesting and had a wide combination of speakers, both from Sweden and abroad. There were representatives from the technical expertise as well as from the society and the political arena. The academy, industry and government met in true triple-helix spirit. The conference was about discussing road safety at a high strategic level, how to reach the zero vision and how the model can be used outside Sweden's borders. The Vision Zero philosophy has now gained international acceptance and the Swedish example became the starting point as the good example.

Mats Svensson, Competence leader for Bio-mechanics and protective systems as well as scientific profile leader at SAFER, summarizes his impressions from the conference:

"It became clear that the Swedish conditions and methods used in Sweden can not easily be transferred to other regions and nations. The conditions are very different and the difficulties are considerably greater in developing countries. In any case, the basic philosophy is applicable everywhere, and key factors for success are that all social actors get together to see what contribution each one can make. There is not a single action that can solve all the problems, but there are a variety of contributions that give the overall result. In addition to the vision, a political commitment is needed and that quantitative timed targets are being set and followed up.

Another impression is that personal injuries with long-term disabling complaints does not decrease at the same rate as deaths. New measures must be taken to reduce these with the same success as fatalities. A large proportion of these injuries affect unprotected road users and there is a strong pressure in Sweden to address this problem. An equally significant problem seems to be long-term disabling discomfort for car drivers after collisions, but there is still not a clear driving force to address this problem.

The presentation by David Ward was very inspiring and gave a good perspective on the expectations that automated vehicles will solve our road safety issues in the near future. He also gave a good overview of how important different innovations in vehicle safety have been to reduce deaths and life-threatening injuries. Rob McInerney presented interesting figures from iRAP *. He demonstrated a striking good cost-benefit ratio for improved road standards.

* The International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) is a registered charity dedicated to preventing the more than 3,500 road deaths that occur every day worldwide."