Brazil road safety progress

In mid‑July 2026 Brazil commemorated 35 years of efforts to improve traffic safety, noting that the country had reduced road deaths overall but that fatalities on its highways remained a concern. A follow‑up report later that month examined the role of toll‑road concessions in driving further safety improvements. Data from the Confederação Nacional dos Transportes showed that privately managed corridors, such as the fully concessioned BR‑040, experienced lower accident death rates and better infrastructure than adjacent federally managed sections. Between 2024 and 2025, the share of highways rated "good or excellent" rose modestly, while the proportion classified as "poor or very poor" fell, yet more than half of the network was still in sub‑optimal condition. Private investors reduced poor‑condition kilometres on concessioned roads dramatically, but deterioration continued on publicly managed segments. Experts highlighted the need for additional private capital, public funding, and skilled labor to close the remaining gap, citing projects like a new tunnel on BR‑040 as examples of ongoing safety enhancements.