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03/03/2010
The 10 years from 2011-2020 will bring an international focus on global road safety, after the United Nations adopted proposals that are designed to save millions of lives.
The agreement follows petitions to the international community from the FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile)'s Make Roads Safe campaign, which had been calling for 2011 to begin a so-called Decade of Action on Road Safety. The group had previously taken its message to the first global road safety conference, convened in Moscow in November last year, which brought together ministers from 70 countries.
Make Roads Safe says that by passing the resolution, the UN has stepped in to face a rapidly escalating global problem. According to the campaign, 1.3 million people are killed worldwide each year in traffic accidents.
Without intervention from the international community, it argues, this figure would be set to rise "dramatically" in the years approaching 2020. However, it claims that a "significant coordinated approach" can prevent five million deaths and 50 million serious injuries by 2020.
The 20-point UN resolution officially welcomes the Moscow declaration, assigning to 2011 to 2020 the goal of stabilising, and then reducing the number of road fatalities against current forecast levels. It calls on the World Health Organisation and regional UN commissions to work with partners to produce a plan of action to guide work throughout the decade.
It also calls on governments, along with public bodies and private companies, to discourage driver distractions such as texting at the wheel - something identified by recent surveys as a significant risk to safety.
Chinese actress Michelle Yeoh, Make Roads Safe global ambassador, told the UN General Assembly during the debate that upwards of 2,000 school-age children are killed or seriously injured every day worldwide - and that this figure is set to double in coming years.
"By making road safety a priority over the next decade we have the potential to save millions of lives, and to prevent many millions of injuries and disabilities," she added.
"This UN Decade of Action for Road Safety provides us with a real opportunity to change direction."
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