[The decade of action for road safety in Medellin, Colombia, to 2015].

Road safety (RS) is key in the study and intervention of human mobility. It is a determining priority in international public health and in the development of communities and nations. The declaration of a global RS crisis in the 1990s by the United Nations urged the social, political and technical processes to propose the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2010-2020 (DARS). The DARS has a global action plan structured around five pillars; the first refers to institutional management. The article describes the background, framework, evidence, and effects of poor management during first half of the DARS in Medellin, Colombia up to 2015.