Make Roads Safe
In 2005 millions of people, and the leaders of the G8, responded to the call to Make Poverty History. A great deal was achieved. But – knowing that road crashes cost billions of dollars to developing countries – we can see that many of the gains for development won in 2005 will be at risk if action is not taken to reverse the rising toll of road traffic deaths and injury. Everyday 3000 people are killed in crashes. Many of these deaths are preventable. That is why we must act together now to Make Roads Safe.
(Lord Robertson of Port Ellen Chairman, Commission for Global Road Safety)
Wht we are campaigning for:
- Action by the G8 and a United Nations summit to agree high level political commitment to action on global road deaths.
- A $300 million 10 year, global action plan to improve road safety in developed countries.
- Making roads safer: ensuring that at least 10% of development budgets for roads provided by the World Bank and other major lenders is dedicated to road safety
Did you know?
- Road deaths in poorer countries are set to rise by 80% by 2020.
- Only HIV/ AIDS kill more young men worldwide.
- Road crushes kill on the scale of Malaria and Tuberculosis.
Road crash = Global disease
Road traffic crashes kill 3000 people, including 500 children, every day. Annually, 1.2 million people are killed and 50 million injured. More than 85% of these casualties ( and 96% of child deaths) occur in low and middle income countries.
Road crash = poverty
The economic cost of deaths and injuries in developing countries is estimated at up to $100 billion a year. Most of those killed or injured in developing countries are pedestrians. They are also breadwinners for their families.
To make poverty history it is vital that we Make Roads Safe.
What We Are Campaigning For
- Political Commitment
What we want….
We are calling for the UN and the G8 to include road safety in their global development policies. We also want to see a United Nations summit bringing political leaders across the world together to commit to action on global road deaths.
2. A Global Road Safety Action Plan
We are calling on rich donor governments to commit to a $300 million, 10 year, action plan to improve road safety in developing countries.
...and how it will help
Many developing countries so not have the skill and knowledge to tackle their growing road safety problems. The action plan, managed by a new Global Road Safety Facility, will train local people to manage their own road safety programs; encourage police, government and courts to enforce traffic laws fairly; and promote road safety measures like seat belt and helmet use.
3. Making Roads Safer
What we want…
We are calling on donor governments and lending bodies (like the World Bank) to ensure that at least 10% of the development money provided for road construction and upgrading, for example in Africa, Asia and Latin America, is dedicated to road safety.
…and how it will help
The G8 at the 2005 ‘Make Poverty History’ summit approved an initial $ 1.2 billion for new roads in Africa. But only $20 million was allocated to road safety, far below official guidelines. Unless road safety is taken seriously, millions of people will be killed and injured on roads in Africa and across the developing world in the years ahead.
“Road deaths represent a huge burden on our health systems and an obstacle to our efforts to overcome poverty. I call on the world community to work together to make our roads safe”.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
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