Lord Robertson, Chairman of the Commission for Global Road Safety, and the man at the forefront of the Make Road Safe campaign, addressed the General Assembly with passion. He said: “Today’s debate can mark the moment when the world community looks out at the suffering, the grief, and the cost of road injuries and decides to begin to end it. This is in our power to do. Collectively we have the tools, we have the knowledge, and we have the means. We must act.”

Lord Robertson held up a photo of a car crash he had been involved in as a young man to the assembled Ministers and ambassadors – a sign of how close the issue is to him personally.

The day started with an Open Letter issued to the UN signed by Nobel Prize winners Archbishop Desmond Tutu, President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica and former US President Jimmy Carter. They were joined by a range of high profile global figures including former Irish President Mary Robinson, Indian National Congress President Sonia Gandhi and former UN Human Development Report author Kevin Watkins in supporting the Make Roads Safe calls for UN action.

The Open Letter emphasised that the UN has a “rare opportunity to address one of the most serious and yet overlooked issues of our time”. It also highlighted figures showing that 10 million people have already lost their lives on the roads in the first decade of the 21st century.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said: “As our world becomes increasingly mobile, it is imperative that we give more attention to the safety of our roads and methods of transportation. The Make Roads Safe campaign is an essential step towards saving the 3000 lives that are lost daily in road accidents.”

In an article published around the world, Archbishop Tutu said: “Every road death is a human tragedy that leaves grief, shock and anger in its wake. To these costs can be added wider impacts. Lost productivity that comes with traffic injuries costs developing countries 1-2 per cent of GDP. Health systems are placed under immense stress. And for the poor, a road injury is often a one-way trip into poverty.”

Following the General Assembly debate, Lord Robertson was joined by actress and Make Roads Safe global Ambassador Michelle Yeoh and representatives from the campaign in a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Lord Robertson briefed Ban on the scale of the problem and Yeoh then handed him the Make Roads Safe petition and a child’s safety helmet from Vietnam.

Yeoh had just returned from a campaign visit to Vietnam. The country is facing a grave road safety situation where despite adult helmet wearing rates nearing 100% in cities rates have fallen back to an estimated 5%. The reason is a perceived loophole in the law, requiring children under 14 to bear the cost of traffic fines if unhelmeted, which made enforcement of child helmet wearing almost impossible for the police.

Lord Robertson was also able to tell Ban that 1 million signatures have been gathered in support of the campaign, a feat achieved with much assistance from FIA clubs around the world.