| FIA Foundation Director General David Ward gave a presentation on the Make Roads Safe campaign at the TRB in a special session devoted to road safety in developing countries. Highlighting the recommendations of the Commission for Global Road Safety, Ward warned that road safety had been overlooked as an issue of sustainable development and as a result was being denied sufficient resources to prevent the rising tide of road traffic deaths and injuries in low and middle income countries.
John Dawson, Chairman of the International Road Assessment Programme, then outlined the potential of road infrastructure rating systems to sharply reduce the risk of injury through unsafe road design. From the Swedish Road Administration, Chief Road Safety Strategist, Roger Johansson, described the relevance of ‘vision zero’ to road safety in developing countries.
Whilst in Washington, Ward also met with Nicole Nason, the Administrator of the US National Highway Administration (NHTSA). Presenting Nason with a copy of the Report of the Commission for Global Road Safety, David Ward praised the NHTSA’s global leadership on road safety and in particular their strong support for the United Nation’s role in promoting best practice in road traffic rules and vehicle standards. This includes a recently proposed global standard for Electronic Stability Control, a crash avoidance technology potentially as important as seat belts in saving lives and avoiding injury in road crashes.
Ward also met with Norman Mineta, the former US Secretary of Transportation. In 2004, Secretary Mineta played a key role in supporting the UN General Assembly decisions on global road safety and warmly welcomed the work of the Make Roads Safe campaign. Under the leadership of its North American Director, Bella Dinh-Zarr, the Make Roads Safe Campaign now has the support of leading US road safety organisations including the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officers, the Governors Highway Safety Association, the National Association of Women’s Highway Safety Officers and the Injury Prevention Section of the American Public Health Association.
Click here to download Ward’s presentation on the Make Roads Safe campaign. |
