The Global Road Safety Forum (GRSF) helps raise awareness and brings people together to address the global road safety crisis in developing and transitioning countries through advocacy, facilitating collaboration, especially with major institutional bodies, and organizing inclusive stakeholders’ forums regionally and globally.

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International Standard for Road Safety Management - 39001

The International Organization for Standardization is the world’s largest developer and publisher of International Standards. The organization defines and establishes standards designed to address business, commerce, and trade, promote healthy and safe practices, and advance and share technological progress. ISO standards are developed by a consensus of expert opinion. Standards are voluntary and are developed in response to a market demand. Under the leadership of Claes Tingvall, Chair of ISO/PC241 on road traffic safety management, ISO has undertaken the development of a new standard for a road safety management system – ISO 39001. Over 30 countries and organizations, including the World Health Organization, the World Bank, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development/International Transport Forum (OECD/ITF), the Global Road Safety Partnership, and the Global Road Safety Forum will be contributing to the development of the standard. Recently Mark Rosenberg was interviewed by the staff of ISO Focus on how ISO might contribute to safer roads.
Read Mark Rosenberg's interview with ISO ►

ROADS THAT ARE DESIGNED TO KILL

In a Boston Globe op-ed Dr. Mark Rosenberg discusses how roads can be designed to save pedestrian lives and shares his personal experience with a pedestrian death. [Read the op-ed]

ROAD TRAFFIC INJURIES: A HIDDEN DEVELOPMENT CRISIS

Dr. Kevin Watkins, Director of UNESCO’s Education for All Global Monitoring Report and a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the Global Economic Governance Programme, Oxford University, and Dr Devi Sridhar, a Senior Researcher at the Global Economic Governance Programme authored a policy briefing on road safety on behalf of the Make Roads Safe Campaign. The policy briefing was provided as background for the November ministerial on global road safety. The briefing outlines the rationale for making road traffic injuries a health and development priority. [Read the report]

Dr. Mark Rosenberg on National Public Radio

To mark the December 10, 2008 release of the World Report on Child Injury Prevention and the CDC Childhood Injury Report, Dr. Mark Rosenberg, Director of the Global Road Safety Forum, spoke to National Public Radio's Brenda Wilson on the toll the road traffic epidemic takes on children in the developing world and why Sweden's roads are the safest in the world. [Listen]

Every 3 minutes a child is killed on the world's roads.

"Road deaths represent a huge burden on our health systems and an obstacle to our efforts to overcome poverty. I call on the world community to work together to make our roads safe". - Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Road Safety Agenda Moving Ahead in Kenya

The Global Road Safety Forum is working with key stakeholders in Kenya to help evaluate existing road safety data surveillance systems and practices and to help to develop and strengthen Kenya’s National Road Safety Council into a body with the authority, leadership and resources to succeed. The Council was established in 2005 under Kenya’s National Road Safety Action Plan but the National Road Safety Council was not inaugurated until August 18, 2009, by Transport Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere. The Council convened in September 2009 to identify key priorities. Nairobi Television (NTV) marked the launch of the council with an overview of the road traffic problems Nairobi has faced.

View the August 18, 2009 video from NTV ►

Since the Council’s launch, the Kenyan government has initiated other efforts to improve road safety. In December 2009, Transport Minister Mwakwere announced an effort to step up enforcement directed at matatu operators and motorcyclists. On January 26, 2010, the Transport Minister and Roads Minister Franklin Betts joined a Kenyan delegation in meeting with the government of Tanzania on East African development issues. Cross-border road design standardization was included on the agenda.

View the Nairobi Television coverage on stepped up enforcement ►

NRSC Kenya

Meeting of Kenya National Road Safety Council, October 21, 2009

Transitional Commission for Road Safety in Latin America and the Caribbean The Transitional Commission for Road Safety in Latin America and the Caribbean is moving toward formalizing the Transitional Commission into a permanent regional committee. In August 2009, Ignacio Nazif was appointed as the Commission Coordinator. Develop the 3rd Latin American and Caribbean Road Safety Stakeholders' Forum Define and develop a regional observatory for road safety Bring together road traffic victims' associations in the region. On February 5th and 6th, the Commission, in conjunction with DGT Spain and the city of Medellin, held a Victims’ Association Forum in Medellin, Colombia. 18 victims’ associations from Latin America participated and contributed to the Medellín Declaration. For more news about the Transitional Commission and its work, visit the Commission's website ►		EDU-CAR Update EDU-CAR, a program of the Gonzalo Rodriguez Memorial Foundation (GRMF), is working with the government of Uruguay to deliver a higher level of road safety and security to the children of Uruguay. EDU-CAR has worked closely with key partners - BioEchoes, CDC, and the Global Road Safety Forum - to advance work in data collection and surveillance, and concept and design of technical and policy solutions to improve vehicle safety in Uruguay. In a study of child safety restraints, EDU-CAR found that 10% of all private vehicles did not have rear seat restraints; over 17% had only lap belts in the rear position. Further, 46% of rear seat belts do not display any evidence of technical standard compliance. Only 7.6% of children were observed to be traveling safely - using a 3-point, top tether safety restraint that complies with appropriate technical standards. EDU-CAR has successfully advocated for passage of a national law requiring all school transport vehicle passengers to use seat belts. However, the technical requirements for the benches needed to be addressed. In 2009, EDUCAR in partnership with BioEchoes, worked with SafeGuard to develop a new bench and safety restraint system that would meet recognized technical safety standards. However, the new benches were larger and presented a new set of challenges. The redesigned buses also have a lower passenger capacity. The team began work with Mercedes Benz to develop a larger school bus that would accommodate the same number of passengers in the newly designed safe seats. GRMF signed an agreement with the Ministry of Public Health, acknowledging that road traffic injuries are a public health problem. Under this agreement GRMF will coordinate with the government of Uruguay to conduct educational outreach on child passenger safety with both public and private sector entities. EDU-CAR promotes safe use of child seats through a multi-media campaign, USA SILLA – VIAJA SEGURO – LLEGA SEGURO. The campaign uses television, cable, radio, street and bus advertising to reach its target audiences. Visit the EDUCAR website ►

First Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety Produces Agreement to Meet at UN in March 2010 The first global ministerial conference on road safety was held in Moscow on November 19th and 20th. The conference resulted in the Moscow Declaration that seeks UN commitment to a Decade of Action on road safety. The Moscow Declaration will be presented to the UN General Assembly in March 2010. As a result of the Moscow conference, seven development banks - African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, and the World Bank - signed a resolution agreeing to strengthen road safety management capacity; to implement safety approaches in the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of road infrastructure projects; to improve safety performance measures; and to mobilize more and new resources for road safety. Read the Moscow Declaration ► Read the resolution signed by the development banks ► To find out more about the UN General Assembly dicussion on road safety►

Road Safety Agenda Moving Ahead in Kenya

Transitional Commission for Road Safety in Latin America and the Caribbean

EDU-CAR Update

First Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety Produces Agreement to Meet at UN in March 2010