First UN Global Road Safety Week seeks positive action on road safety

With more than 20 million people killed or seriously injured on the world's roads every year, the first UN Global Road Safety Week this week (April 23-29) aims to highlight the scale of the problem and in particular to influence the impact on people under the age of 25 who suffer 40% of all road accident deaths.

To mark the event, representatives from Exploration Logistics Driver Training team are this week attending the second UN Road Safety Stakeholders forum, an international collaboration of UN, government and private sector companies working to produce and promote road safety standards. Building on their experience of developing the training and management systems that promote higher driving standards and fewer road incidents for many international organisations working in developing countries, Margaret Stevenson and Paul Woodhouse will join the Safety Collaboration group in Geneva this week. The key agenda item will be the growing gap in road traffic injuries between the developed and the developing countries where the number of road accidents continues to accelerate.

By raising awareness of the impact of road traffic accidents, the first UN Global Road Safety Week hopes to highlight what could be achieved by the promotion of safe driving practice in developing countries. Explains Margaret Stevenson, "Road Safety is no Accident is a good theme. It confirms our own experience of the real improvements that can be achieved both by encouraging safer driving practice such as the use of helmets and seat-belts, but also through education and more understanding about the impact of habits like speeding and drink-driving."