ITF’s three-point plan to reduce road deaths

A three-point plan to help countries reduce road deaths and serious injuries has been unveiled at the International Transport Forum (ITF) in Leipzig, Germany. The keynote address by Prince Michael of Kent, a member of the UK’s royal family, was presented to transport ministers at a summit focused on transport safety and security. Outside of the ITF, Prince Michael is known for establishing an award scheme that recognises innovation in road safety worldwide.
May 24, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
A three-point plan to help countries reduce road deaths and serious injuries has been unveiled at the 998 International Transport Forum (ITF) in Leipzig, Germany. The keynote address by Prince Michael of Kent, a member of the UK’s royal family, was presented to transport ministers at a summit focused on transport safety and security.


Outside of the ITF, Prince Michael is known for establishing an award scheme that recognises innovation in road safety worldwide.

Speaking upon the UN Sustainable Development Goals to halve road deaths and injuries by 2020, he said:
“Unfortunately, it is clear now that this will not be achieved. Worse still, if present trends continue, the World Bank has forecast that by 2030 another 21.7 million deaths and 875.7 million injuries will occur on the world’s roads.”

Going forward, he recommended a new UN road safety target will help get the goals back on track.

“The serious risk is that, without a new casualty reduction target, the road safety performance of UN member states will be weakly measured and consequently poorly managed,” he added.

The second proposal involves mobilising new resources to finance road injury prevention programmes. Prince Michael is pleased the UK has served a contributor of the World Bank’s global road safety facility, “but now is the time for other countries to come forward and become new donors to the cause”.

Thirdly, Prince Michael stressed a much stronger political commitment to road safety is necessary. He welcomed the Towards Zero Foundation’s decision to establish the Global Network for Road Safety Legislators which aims to encourage parliamentarians to share best practice in road safety legislation and policies.

“Political engagement like this will be a ‘sine qua non’ of effective road injury prevention in the decade to 2030.”

To conclude, Prince Michael advised transport ministers to consider what is at stake between now and 2030.

“Think of the lives that will be lost, the families shattered, and the tragic waste from another twenty million or more road fatalities.”

A full copy of the speech is available %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external here false https://www.itf-oecd.org/keynote-speech-hrh-prince-michael-kent false false%>.

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • EU states support Denmark’s diesel ban proposal
    October 15, 2019
    Ten European Union (EU) countries have backed a proposal from Denmark to ban the sale of diesel and petrol cars by 2040. Danish climate and energy minister Dan Jorgensen told Reuters that the ban will hopefully put pressure on the European Commission to the propose phasing out of fossil fuel-powered vehicles. He also suggested allowing individual countries to implement this measure if the EU could not agree on a union-wide ban. Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and other countries have suggested tha
    Read More
  • Transport Canada to enforce seatbelts on highway buses
    July 17, 2018
    Seatbelts will become mandatory on all medium and large highway buses built from 1 September 2020 in Canada, following new safety rules established by Transport Canada. The government department develops transportation regulations, policies and services. Marc Garneau, minister of transport, says: “By having seatbelts on highway buses, we can help reduce injuries in severe collisions, such as rollovers, and improve safety for everyone.”
    Read More
  • Ertico reveals new ITS event for 2020 in Russia
    September 17, 2019
    Ertico – ITS Europe has announced it is to hold the first-ever Central Eastern European Congress next year. Hosted by the city of Kazan, in south-west Russia, the event will focus on cooperation with Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (which comprises a number of countries formed after the break-up of the Soviet Union) and Central Eastern countries, says Ertico. It will take place in Kazan, Tatarstan on 21-24 September 2020 and there is a preview of the event in the city next month, on 3-4 Oct
    Read More
  • Columbus, Ohio is named Smart Cities Dive’s city of 2018
    December 5, 2018
    Columbus, Ohio has been named City of the Year in the Smart Cities Dive website’s awards for its work on transit and electrification. The US city won the US Department of Transportation’s inaugural Smart City Challenge two years ago – and is rolling out a variety of smart city-related programmes. Smart Cities Dive said the city’s “biggest area of progress this year” has been its increased reliance on electric vehicles (EVs), including in its bus fleet and other government vehicles. City authoritie
    Read More

Highlighted Content