The Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 was officially launched on 28 October, with the ambitious target of preventing at least 50% of road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030.
The World Health Organization, (WHO) and the UN regional commissions, in cooperation with other partners in the UN Road Safety Collaboration, have developed a Global Plan for the Decade of Action, which was also published at the same time.
WHO says globally more than 3,500 people die every day on the roads, which amounts to nearly 1.3 million preventable deaths and an estimated 50 million injuries each year – making road deaths the leading killer of children and young people worldwide.
As things stand, road collisions are set to cause a further estimated 13 million deaths and 500 million injuries during the next decade, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. WHO describes these as ‘unacceptable numbers, both in absolute and relative terms’.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said: “The loss of lives and livelihoods, the disabilities caused, the grief and pain, and the financial costs caused by road traffic crashes add up to an intolerable toll on families, communities, societies and health systems.
“So much of this suffering is preventable, by making roads and vehicles safer, and by promoting safe walking, cycling and greater use of public transport.
“The Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety lays out the practical, evidence-based steps all countries and communities can take to save lives.”
The Global Plan describes the actions required to achieve the 50% target, including: accelerated action to make walking, cycling and using public transport safe, as they are also healthier and greener modes of transport; ensuring safe roads, vehicles and behaviours; and guaranteeing timely and effective emergency care.
The Plan outlines recommended actions drawn from proven and effective interventions, as well as best practices for preventing road trauma. WHO says it is intended to be used as a blueprint to inform and inspire national and local plans that are tailored to local contexts, available resources and capacity.
It is aimed at senior policy-makers and other stakeholders who can influence road safety including civil society, academia, the private sector and community and youth leaders.
Dr Etienne Krug, director of WHO’s Department of the Social Determinants of Health, concluded: “More than 50 million people have died on the world’s roads since the invention of the automobile.
“This is more than the number of deaths in World War One or some of the worst epidemics.
“It is time to put in action what we know works and shift to a much safer and healthier mode of transport. This new plan will lead countries onto a more sustainable path.”
It is good to see the strong endorsement of 20mph and 30km/h limits in the section on Speed Management.
“In densely populated urban areas, there is strong evidence that even the best road and vehicle design features are unable to adequately guarantee the safety of all road users when speeds are above the known safe level of 30 km/h. For this reason, in urban areas where there is a typical, predictable mix of road users (cars, cyclists, motorcyclists, and pedestrians), a maximum speed limit of 30 km/h (20 mph) should be established, unless strong evidence exists to support higher limits.”
No wonder that local and national authorities representing 42% of the UK population have now recognised that the national 30mph limit is no longer fit for purpose on most of their urban and village roads.
It really is time for the UK Government and DfT to recognise that the forcing all local authorities to make the decision to address the failure of the national limit is illogical and can no longer be justified. Its currently hiding behind a fig-leaf of localism to preserve the status quo and shift the burden of correcting the national limit away from themselves. That is both increasing costs for local authorities and slowing down adoption of community-enhancing lower limits.
20mph is fast becoming the norm yet the DfT still treats it as some isolated exception. The government is failing local authorities, failing communities and failing to take the lead in using a change in national urban/village limit to increase road safety, reduce pollution, reduce noise and increase liveability.
Rod King, Lymm
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