From left to right: Fernando Martínez Badillo, Under Secretary Traffic Management for the Secretary of Public Safety of the Federal District of Mexico, Esteban Gutiérrez, Formula 1 driver for Scuderia Ferrari, Jean Todt, FIA President and UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, Felipe Massa, Formula One driver for Williams Martini Racing, Luis Alberto Moreno, President of the Inter-American Development Bank, Yuriria Mascott Pérez, Under Secretary for Transport of the Federal Government of Mexico, Jose Abed, President of OMDAI and Vice President of the FIA, and Carlos Slim Domit, President of Grupo Carso, President of Escuderia Telmex-Telcel and Member of the FIA Senate.

The fourth edition of the FIA-IADB Road Safety Forum was held today in Mexico City on the occasion of the FIA Formula 1 Grand Prix of Mexico. This year the forum focused on the different tools available to protect and save lives of those most vulnerable – children and young people – under the theme “Kids First”.

As in previous years, the forum brought together stakeholders of the road safety community to promote the importance of this issue and identify solutions at the national, regional and global level. Speakers at the event included Jean Todt, FIA President and UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, Luis Alberto Moreno, President of the Inter-American Development Bank, Carlos Slim Domit, President of Grupo Carso, President of Escuderia Telmex-Telcel and Member of the FIA Senate, Jose Abed, President of OMDAI and Vice President of the FIA, Fernando Martínez Badillo, Under Secretary Traffic Management for the Secretary of Public Safety of the Federal District of Mexico, and Yuriria Mascott Pérez, Under Secretary for Transport of the Federal Government of Mexico.

Jean Todt, FIA President and UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, said: "The theme of this year’s conference is the safety of children on the roads. The current situation is unacceptable; 500 kids die every day on the world’s roads, and here in Mexico, road related fatalities are the leading cause of death for those aged five to nine years old. We need to bring governments on board and urge them to take action. Remobilizing political commitment will be a priority of all road safety stakeholders for the Second Global High Level Conference on Road Safety in Brasilia in a couple of weeks."

The FIA's new film by Luc Besson that raises awareness of children's road safety was shown:Skl.fia.com

Luis Alberto Moreno, President of the Inter-American Development Bank, said there are high-impact actions that are relatively easy to implement, such as the mandatory use of adequate and age specific child restraint systems. “It is crucial for countries to adopt and enforce policies and standards that regulate the correct use of safety restraints and support more and better public awareness campaigns to inform people on how to keep their children safe” he added.

During the forum, the winners of the 2015 “Project Yellow Light” film competition, organized by the Bank and supported by FIA, were revealed. The contest encourages young people across Latin America and the Caribbean to produce their own road safety videos. The winning videos are raising awareness on drivers’ distraction, including the dangers of texting and driving, and drink driving.

The winners, who included Juan Felipe Chaverra Ortiz, 25 years old, from Cali, Colombia, Marisa Carinelli, 28 years old from Corzuela, Argentina, and Francisco Rojas, 25 years old, from Salamanca, México, were awarded their prizes by Formula 1 drivers Felipe Massa and Esteban Gutiérrez.

Esteban Gutiérrez said: “Young drivers commit mistakes on the road. When I was younger I also made mistakes. It is part of our development. The important thing is to learn from those mistakes and to be more responsible and more mature, and be aware that the danger isn’t only with ourselves but also with those who surround us.”

The top three videos can be watched here:

1.           http://proyectoluz.spkrl.com/video/84344-a-ti-quien-te-protege

2.            http://proyectoluz.spkrl.com/video/84326-tus-decisiones-no-solo-te-afect...

3.            http://proyectoluz.spkrl.com/video/84410-adquiere-el-habito-ya