The new political declaration on halving the number of traffic deaths and injuries by 2030 represents a turning point

The World Health Organization (WHO) welcomes the political declaration to be adopted by member states during the high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly on global road safety. It commits to reducing road traffic deaths and injuries by 50% by 2030, a milestone for road safety and sustainable mobility.

The meeting is being held from June 30 to July 1, 2022 under the theme “Horizon 2030 for road safety: ensuring a decade of action and achievement”.

Road safety affects everyone. Every day we leave our homes on the roads that lead us to our jobs, schools and fulfilling our vital daily needs. However, our transport systems are still too dangerous. No death should be acceptable on our roads. The future of mobility should promote health and well-being, protect the environment and benefit everyone,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “It will take transformative leadership from the highest levels of government to act on the Political Declaration to turn that vision into reality.”

Around the world, road accidents currently kill around 1.3 million people each year – more than 2 every minute, and more than 90% occur in low- and middle-income countries. Accidents are the biggest killer of children and young people in the world. More than 50 million people have died on the world’s roads since the invention of the automobile, more than the number of deaths in World War I or some of the worst global epidemics.

WHO is the lead agency for road safety in the United Nations and supported the President of the UN General Assembly in the preparation of this high-level meeting in cooperation with other UN agencies.

Through the declaration, governments from around the world commit to providing leadership and coordination at the highest level of government to ensure that all parts of society are involved in action on road safety and commit to strengthening policies and actions to reduce deaths and injuries. The Declaration calls for the development and funding of national and local plans with clear objectives and funding.

“Traffic deaths claim countless lives and cost countries around 3% of GDP each year,” notes Dr. Etienne Krug, Director of the Department of Social Determinants of Health, WHO. “This is an unacceptable price for mobility. Putting safety at the center of our mobility systems is an urgent health, economic and moral imperative. Let’s work together to scale up what works, save lives and build livable streets.”

In September 2020, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030. WHO and UN regional commissions, in collaboration with other partners in the UN Road Safety Cooperation, developed a Global Plan for the Decade of Action, which was announced in October 2021.

The plan calls for continuous improvements in road and vehicle design, strengthening laws and law enforcement, and providing timely, life-saving emergency care to the injured. In addition, it promotes healthy and environmentally friendly modes of transportation.

It also emphasizes that the responsibility for road safety extends far beyond health and traffic. Urban planners and engineers must prioritize safety as a core value in the entire transport infrastructure, while companies can influence and contribute to the strengthening of road safety by applying the principle of safety first in their entire value chains.

Countries and cities guided by the plan have seen dramatic reductions in deaths. For example, the Colombian capital Bogotá cut mortality in half over 10 years through a series of integrated actions, including extensive technical improvements and regulatory reforms driven by strong leadership.

The meeting will be held in New York on June 30, 2022 at 10:00 AM EST. The event will be broadcast on Web TV.