Make Roads Safe goes to Washington

The Make Roads Safe campaign has stepped up its profile in Washington DC having been featured at the Transportation Research Board 86th Annual Meeting and in discussion with key policy makers in the US capital. The FIA Foundation’s 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.

David Ward with NHTSA Administrator Nicole Nason

Highlighting the recommendations of the Commission for Global Road Safety, David 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. (See presentation attached). Also speaking at the TRB, John Dawson, Chairman of the International Road Assessment Programme, 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, David Ward also met with Nicole Nason, the Administrator of the US National Highway Administration (NHTSA). Presenting Ms 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, in particular their strong support for the United Nation’s role in promoting best practice in road traffic rules and vehicle standards. For example, Nicole Nason has recently proposed a 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.

Whilst in Washington, David 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.

Download the presentation on the Make Roads Safe campaign (19.5MB / .pps)

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