Macroscopic modeling of traffic safety can provide insight into this global health problem and help policy-makers in both under-developed and developing countries adjust their policies in reaction to the changing conditions. The objective of this paper is to illustrate how macroscopic road safety data analysis can be useful in explaining road safety trends and patterns and thus supporting road safety policies and initiatives. Statistical techniques for the macroscopic analysis of road safety data are presented, followed by case study results from European countries. Practical issues, such as measures of goodness of fit and model diagnostics are also discussed. A discussion on emerging trends and state-of-the-art in the field concludes the paper.