An epidemic: Road Traffic deaths & injuries

Since the first known motor car death in 1896, the worldwide cumulative road death toll has reached some 30 million persons. Annually, 1.2 million people die and an additional 50 million people are injured in road collisions; many with severe and permanently disabling injuries. More than 85% of all road traffic deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries with fatalities and disabling injuries costing emerging economies 1-2% of their GNP. With the rapid industrialization that followed World War II, developed nations recognized the need to address the world’s increasing motorization.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) pioneered a coordinated international road safety policy with The Conventions on Road Traffic (1949; 1968) and the Protocol on Road Sign Signals (1949). Over the past 60 years, these documents have been ratified by over 90 countries and are regularly updated by a body of experts to incorporate new research, technologies and national best practices. Today the Working Party on Road Traffic Safety (WP1) and the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP29) carry on aspects of the UNECE’s work in global road safety.

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History

As rapid development spread to transitional and developing nations, international organizations, governmental and non-governmental bodies, civil society and the private sector moved to stem the rising toll of road traffic deaths and injuries in the developing world.

1999: The World Bank Group initiated the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) as a global partnership of private sector, civil society and governmental organizations collaborating to improve road safety conditions around the world, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. GRSP is a hosted programme of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), based in Geneva.

The Omani delegation, UN General Assembly Session, April 14, 2004

2002: A group of orthopedic surgeons, members of The Bone and Joint Decade (BJD), sought to bring attention to and stop the suffering resulting from road crashes. The Global Road Safety Steering Committee (GRSC) was formed in November of that year to spark attention at the highest government level. Working closely with the BJD, the Task Force for Global Health (formerly theTask Force for Child Survival and Development) organized the committee and served as the Secretariat. Members included the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, UNICEF, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Association for Safe International Road Travel (ASIRT), the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP), the BJD and the FIA Foundation. With leadership from the Permanent Mission of the Sultanate of Oman, the Global Road Safety Steering Committee sought to raise political will and encourage swift action to stop the epidemic of road traffic injuries; the Committee successfully advocated for a session of the United Nations General Assembly devoted to the Global Road Safety Crisis (read the full report) and organized the 1st United Nations Stakeholders Forum on Global Road Safety.

2004: World Health Day, April 7th, 2004 was dedicated to road traffic injury prevention; WHO and the World Bank jointly released the World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention on that same day. The first UN General Assembly session on the global road safety crisis was held on April 14th and followed on April 15th by the 1st UN Stakeholders Forum on Global Road Safety. The UN Stakeholders Forum convened a multisectoral assembly of representatives from the private sector, civil society, international agencies and national governments to foster the development of a global, collaborative mission to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries. The United Nations General Assembly adopted UN Resolution A/RES/58/289, Improving global road safety, to recognize the need for the UN system to support efforts to address global road safety issues. His Excellency Fuad Mubarak Al-Hinai, the Permanent Representative of the Sultanate of Oman to the United Nations, led the General Assembly discussions and spearheaded the multi-national mobilization of political will to address issues of road safety.

The significant global attention given to global road safety in 2004 helped to generate a multiplicity of regional road safety initiatives throughout the world in years to follow.

Lord George Robertson, Chairman of the Commission for Global Road Safety

2005: The Task Force for Child Survival & Development developed a permanent program, the Global Road Safety Forum (GRSF), to continue the contributions made in global road safety advocacy as Secretariat of the GRSC. Its advocacy and collaborative efforts continue on both global and regional levels.
In response to the 2004 UN General Assembly mandate, WHO partnered with the UNECE, and 40 member agencies from national governments, civil society and the private sector to form the UN Road Safety Collaboration.

In April, African Ministers of Transport and Infrastructure gathered in Addis Abba to discuss the role of transport in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. They resolved to comply with international transport conventions on safety and security and established a goal to reduce road traffic fatalities by 50 percent by the year 2015.

In November, the World Bank launched the Global Road Safety Facility to increase funding and technical assistance to target and overcome country safety management capacity weaknesses.

2006: The Commission for Global Road Safety released the Make Roads Safe Report in June. The Commission’s report focuses on securing high-level political engagement and significant financial commitment to prevent road traffic fatalities and injuries in low- and middle-income countries and outlines recommendations for a global road safety action plan.

David Ward, Director General of the FIA Foundation, Óscar Arias Sánchez, President of Costa Rica and Carlos Macaya, President of the Automovile Club de Costa Rica, at the 1st Latin American & Caribbean Road Safety Forum in San Jose, Costa Rica in September 2006.

The 1st Latin American and Caribbean Road Safety Stakeholders Forum was held on September 14th, in San José, Costa Rica under the joint sponsorship of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC), the National Road Safety Council of Costa Rica (COSEVI), the FIA Foundation, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), the World Bank and the Global Road Safety Forum(GRSF). Nearly 200 representatives from 24 countries adopted the Declaration of San José, calling on national governments to implement the World Report recommendations, to commit to a regional, multi-sectoral approach to road safety, and urge development banks to require funding of road safety in concert with infrastructure development. The declaration provided for the formation of a Regional Committee to advance these goals, strengthen data collection capacity, and provide harmonization of road and vehicle safety legislation. The Transitional Commission, chaired by Óscar Arias Sánchez, President of the Republic of Costa Rica and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, is now working to establish this committee.

The United Nations Economic & Social Commission for Asia & the Pacific (UNECSCAP) Ministerial Declaration on Improving Road Safety in Asia and the Pacific was adopted on November 11, 2006 in Busan, Korea. The projected savings from implementing the declaration provisions are estimated at US$15 billion annually. With stated goals to save 600,000 lives and prevent an equal number of disabling injuries by 2050.

Luciana O'Reilly, Executive Director of Safe Kids Brazil at the 2nd Stakeholders Forum on Global Road Safety at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland in April 2007.

2007: The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and Ministers of Transport and Health met in Accra, Ghana to promote development of national action plans and to identify methods to mobilize resources to rapidly improve road safety in Africa. In reaffirmation of the 2005 conference, the ministers adopted the Accra Declaration which called upon the G8 Summit to recognize the need to improve road safety in Africa and ensure that road safety is included in development system programs throughout the continent. In response to a collaborative study by WHO and the International Society of Surgeons that assessed essential trauma care availability in developing countries, the declaration also resolved to strengthen hospital and emergency services.

The First UN Global Road Safety Week was held April 23 – 29th focusing on the world’s youth. Events took place in over 100 countries around the world along with a World Youth Assembly held at UN headquarters in Geneva. On April 25th, the 2nd UN Stakeholder Forum on Global Road Safety held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland brought together UN delegates, ministers and representatives of national departments in Transport, Health, Law Enforcement, and Foreign Relations, stakeholders from non-governmental organizations, and the private sector to share the progress made since 2004, discuss the widening gap between developed and developing countries, and focus attention on how to forge ahead. Over 300 stakeholders endorsed a set of four global initiatives: the Make Roads Safe Recommendations, the World Bank Global Road Safety Facility, the UN Road Safety Collaboration and a United Nations Ministerial Conference on road safety.

Participants at the 2nd Stakeholders Forum on Global Road Safety held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland in April 2007.