Brunei Darussalam Road Safety Profile 2025
BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
ROAD SAFETY PROFILE
Supported by:
The ATO road safety profiles offer insights into the road safety in 37 Asia-Pacific countries by utilizing road safety related data from various sources and policy information extracted from a range of documents.
These road safety profiles were developed by the Asian Transport Observatory in collaboration with the Asia Pacific Road Safety Observatory (APRSO) and the International Road Federation (IRF). This September 2025 edition updates the February 2025 release—prepared for the Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Marrakech—to inform discussions at the Asia-Pacific Regional Road Safety Conference in Manila.
Country Summary
Road safety in Brunei Darussalam remains a significant public health challenge. In 2021, an estimated 9.2 fatalities occurred per 100,000 population due to road crashes, accounting for 10th highest cause of all deaths in the country.
Disaggregated data provides valuable insights into the demographics of road crash victims. The share of female fatalities in Brunei Darussalam decreased slightly from 26% to 25% between 2010 and 2021. Regarding age, the combined share of minors (<14 years old) and seniors (>65 years old) in road crash fatalities increased marginally from 29% to 30% between 2015 and 2019, contrasting with a slight increase from 32% to 34% in the Asia-Pacific region.
The economic burden of road crashes in Brunei Darussalam is substantial. Fatalities and serious injuries resulting from these crashes cost an estimated 400 Million USD in 2021, equivalent to roughly 3% of the country's GDP. For comparison, healthcare expenditure in Brunei Darussalam in the same year was only 2% of GDP.
Furthermore, road crashes account for a notable portion (11%) of the implicit costs associated with fossil fuel subsidies in transport.
The quality of road infrastructure plays a crucial role in road safety. As of 2024, only 4% of road infrastructure in Brunei Darussalam has 3-star or better iRAP rating for pedestrians. The share is only 1% for bicyclists, significantly lower than the Asia-Pacific average of 22%. While at least 46% of Brunei Darussalam's road infrastructure has a 3-star or better rating for vehicle occupants, only about 3% achieves this rating for motorcyclists, highlighting a disparity in infrastructure safety for different road user groups.
Policy Landscape
Brunei has set explicit road safety targets in its Road Safety Strategic Plan 2025 (2020), including a vision of zero fatalities and significant reductions in high-risk crash categories. Additional long-term targets to 2035, outlined in national transport planning documents, focus on reducing overall and child fatalities and serious injuries. The country has also adopted transport-related targets with indirect road safety benefits, such as increasing public transport use, improving travel times, and upgrading road infrastructure.
| Zero road accident fatalities by 2025 Zero fatalites per population Decrease number of accidents by 50% Zero accidents involving vehicles 15 years and older Decrease the number of accidents involving 2 years license holder driver by 70% Zero road accidents related to driving under influence (DUI) Decrease the proportion of accidents involving drivers 59 years and older by 48% Decrease the proportion of accidents involving heavy commercial vehicles by 50% Decrease the proportion of accidents involving foreign drivers by 65% | 2025 | The Brunei Darussalam Road Safety Strategic Plan 2025 | 2020 |
| contribute towards a fall in the rate of fatal and serious road casualties by 50%; contribute to a fall in children killed and seriously injured by 60%; | 2035 | Review to Formulate a Roadmap and Draft National Masterplan for a Sustainable Land Transportation System for Brunei Darussalam | 2014 |
| contribute to a fall in children killed and seriously injured by 60%; | 2035 | Review to Formulate a Roadmap and Draft National Masterplan for a Sustainable Land Transportation System for Brunei Darussalam | 2014 |
| General public transport | By 2025 increase in taxis = 100% Increase in bus ridership = 10% | 2025 | Strategic Plan for Ministry of Transport and Infocommunications | 2020 |
| General transport asset management | 25 km of upgraded road | 2035 | Review to Formulate a Roadmap and Draft National Masterplan for a Sustainable Land Transportation System for Brunei Darussalam | 2014 |
| Target - Modal shift | increase public transport’s share of travel during the peak to over 20%, representing 37,000 trips; | 2035 | Review to Formulate a Roadmap and Draft National Masterplan for a Sustainable Land Transportation System for Brunei Darussalam | 2014 |
| Travel time improvement | reduce the proportion of journeys by any mode being more than 30 minutes by over 40%; | 2035 | Review to Formulate a Roadmap and Draft National Masterplan for a Sustainable Land Transportation System for Brunei Darussalam | 2014 |
| Target - Modal shift | o increase the share of public transport journeys as a percentage of total journeys from its current level of approximately 1% to 22% by 2035. | 2035 | Intended Nationally Determined Contribution - BRN | 2015 |
References
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