Transport ministers from around the world have set out a plan to halve the number of road traffic deaths by 2030.
The Stockholm Declaration was agreed at the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, which took place in the Swedish capital on 19-20 February.
Described as an ‘ambitious and forward-looking’ road safety plan, the declaration says that while commendable progress has been made, all countries still face ‘major challenges’.
The declaration outlines a series of ‘long-term and sustainable’ solutions, with the aim of reducing road traffic deaths by at least 50% from 2020 to 2030.
Among the commitments is a pledge to ‘speed up the shift toward safer, cleaner, more energy efficient and affordable modes of transport’ and ‘promote higher levels of physical activity such as walking and cycling’.
The declaration also has a focus on speed management, promising to ‘mandate a maximum road travel speed limit of 20mph in areas where vulnerable road users and vehicles mix in a frequent and planned manner’.
It says that efforts to reduce speed will have a ‘beneficial impact on air quality and climate change as well as being vital to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries’.
Technology features heavily, with a pledge to ‘encourage and incentivize the development, application and deployment of existing and future technologies’ in all aspects of road safety, from crash prevention to emergency response.
In terms of vehicle technology, there is a commitment for all new vehicles to be ‘equipped with appropriate levels of safety performance’ by 2030 – with incentives provided (where possible) to encourage drivers and organisations to opt for vehicles with ‘enhanced safety performance’.
Okay point taken Rod, but generally road safety initiatives seem to only refer to reducing deaths as if that was all that matters. Why shouldn’t the declared aim of road safety initiatives be to ‘reduce collisions’ rather than, as I said before, a specific, unpredictable, random consequence? It is impossible for any motorised road user to tailor their road behaviour in a way that ensures a crash will only result in an injury and not death.
Hugh Jones, Cheshire
+2
Hugh
Beware of thinking that a headline for an article is ever “the complete picture”.
I suggest you read the declaration itself. There it calls for reducing “death and injuries” by half.
Rod King, Lymm
+1
Just road deaths? What about life-changing injuries and trauma? The causes are the same for both, so shouldn’t the aim be reduced collisions per se, rather than just a specific random unpredictable consequence of collisions?
Hugh Jones, Cheshire
+3