An introduction to the safety rating systems in use internationally has been highlighted at the recently released synthesis of the European Road Safety Observatory as prepared by the SafetyNet project. Safety rating systems present impartial information on aspects of traffic system safety. Safety ratings in use today are objective tools for the assessment and improvement of aspects of the safety of vehicles, the road network, work-related road safety and international safety performance. Safety ratings in use either predict safety outcomes for given designs or provide a retrospective assessment based on crash data.