MEDIA RELEASE
19 November 2009
World Leaders Gather for Road Safety Summit
World leaders will gather in Moscow this week to develop a strategy to tackle the
largest public health issue on the planet – road trauma. More than 1.3 million people
die a year from road traffic injuries and millions more are hospitalised, with
predictions the road death figure will increase to almost 2 million by 2020.
Governments and world leaders will assemble at the first ever Global Ministerial
Summit on Road Safety to implement a 10-year action plan prepared by the FIA
Foundation’s Commission for Global Road Safety – Make Roads Safe – which would
be ratified by the United Nations.
The Australian Automobile Association, Australia’s peak motoring body and a
member of the FIA, said today the meeting should endorse the Decade of Action
plan to bring down the high road fatality rate – more people die from road trauma
than those suffering from malaria.
The Make Roads Safe report recommends reducing road fatalities by 50 per cent by
2020 – which would save up to 5 million lives and prevent 50 million serious injuries.
But AAA Chief Executive, Mike Harris, expressed disappointment at the Federal
Government’s decision not to send any parliamentary representative to the UN
Global Road Safety summit.
“Australia’s motoring clubs and road safety programs are recognised as world
leaders, and our Government’s absence will be noted,” Mr Harris said.
Mr Harris also noted that Australia’s own 10-year National Road Safety Strategy
(NRSS), due to expire next year, has fallen well short of its targetted reductions in
road fatalities and trauma.
“In Australia, some five people die each day and more than 75 are hospitalised with
serious injury – there is a need for concerted action here and internationally to bring
down these tragically high figures,” he said.
“There needs to be a heightened public debate about the development of the next
NRSS, given the current plan has fallen short of its targets – more than 1400 people
died on Australian roads last year.
“Issues such as infrastructure, young drivers, older drivers, public transport and
vehicle safety are not the full preserve of the Commonwealth so there needs to be a
broad debate involving governments, the motoring public and all road users to assist
development of the next NRSS.”
To this end, AAA will host a Road Safety Summit in February next year to further
promote the Make Roads Safe campaign and encourage discussion on a new Road
Safety Strategy for Australia for 2011-2020.
Contact:
Mike Harris
Allan Yates
AAA Chief Executive
AAA Communications Manager
0408 952 648
0421 150 229
Constituent Members