Global Goals and Road Safety

David Ward Secretary GeneralGlobal New Car Assessment Programme

Global Road Safety Challenge – The Urgency of Now

Over 3000 people are killed in road crashes every day. Around 3% of global GDP is lostand road crashes are the leading cause ofdeath of young people (15-29).

Low and middle income countries accountfor 90% of global road deaths and havefatality rates twice that of high incomenations.

These countries now account for nearly half of new car production worldwide. Over the next fifteen years the globalvehicle fleet is expected to double. Thisunprecedented increase in motorisation is a huge road safety challenge.

From January 1 2016 the United Nations (UN) isimplementing a new framework of SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by 2030.Road safety is included in Goals 3 and 11 for healthand cities with a target to:

Halve the number of global deathsand injuries from road crashes by2020.

This is the UN’s strongest ever commitment toroad injury prevention, which gives new impetus tothe UN Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020),and has been endorsed by the 2nd High Level GlobalConference on Road Safety held in Brasilia lastNovember and by the UN General Assembly in April(A/Res/70/260).

Global Goals for Sustainable Development and Road Safety

Halving Road Deaths by 2020 – A Very Ambitious Target

EU Target to Halve Road Deaths by 2020 – Progress Stalled

SDG target requires 4X rate of improvement of UN Decade Goal

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WHO dataTrend in 2010Decade of Action GoalSDG

Inspired by Sweden’s adoption of Vision Zero in 1997,there is now a strong global mandate for a paradigm shiftin favour of the Safe System approach to road injuryprevention.

Its starting point is an ethically inspired perspective, thatthere is no acceptable level of road deaths and seriousinjuries. It shifts road safety policy away from traditional‘blame the victim’ attitudes towards a strategy that isforgiving of human error. It encourages a dynamic andholistic strategy that promotes safe vehicles, roads, and road users and speed management.

The Safe System Approach was endorsed by the OECD/ITF in their 2008 Towards Zero report and was used to formulate the structure and recommendations of the Global Plan for the UN Decade of Action.

A Global Opportunity for A Visionary Approach

People make mistakes that lead to road crashes.

The human body has a limited physical ability to tolerate crash forces before harm occurs.

There is shared responsibility amongst those who design, build, operate, and use roads and vehicles to prevent crashes that result in serious injury or death.

All parts of the system must be strengthened in combination to multiply their effects, and if one part fails, road users are still protected.

Four Principles of the Safe System

The Safe System Approach has some inherent advantages:

• Avoids default to primary reliance on behavioural measures.

• Builds technology and infrastructure that aims to ‘hard wire’ sustainable road safety.

• Challenges public lack of demand for safety, poor perceptions of risk, and tolerance of road trauma.

• Demands constant improvement (as no level of death is acceptable) so reducing the risk of policy fatigue or complacency.

• Engages all stakeholders in a co-operative, transparent, and shared strategy.

Why The Safe System?

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The Global Plan for the Decade of Action

Five pillars for a Safe Systems approach

Build Capacity

Safer User behaviour

SaferRoads & Mobility

Safer Vehicles

Post-crash response

Global NCAP’s 2020 Vision…

In 2015 from a total of 68 million new cars as many as 25% fail to meet UN minimum safety standards, lacking air bags, anti-lock brakes, or electronic stability control.

By 2020 at the latest Global NCAP wants all new cars to meet UN crash test standards with air bags, ABS and ESC fitted as standard.

This needs government action to apply UN vehicle safety standards more widely and greater effort to stimulate customer demand for safer motor vehicles.

UN Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations

The Global Plan supports wider applicationof the most important global standards available under the 1958and 1998 agreements of the UN World Forum for Harmonisation of Vehicle Regulations (WP29).*

These are:

Reg. 14 Seat belt anchoragesReg. 16 Safety belts & restraintsReg. 94 Frontal collisionReg. 95 Lateral collisionReg.13H (GTR 8) Electronic stability controlReg.127 (GTR 9) Pedestrian protectionReg. 44/129 Child restraints

*or equivalent national standards (eg: FVMSSs)

The 2015 Status Report:

• Reveals “worrying data” showing that only 40 out of a total of 193 UN Member States fully apply the seven most important UN safety regulations and these are overwhelmingly high-income countries.

• Says “there is an urgent need for these minimum vehicle standards to be implemented by every country”.

• Warns that “regulations helping to protect occupants withstand front and side impact crashes are poorly implemented globally” and also calls for mandatory fitment of electronic stability control.

WHO Global Road Safety Status Report 2015 - Vehicle Safety

Crash Avoidance Systems Starting To Go Global

Three key crash avoidance systems are today’s priority technologies for passenger cars, buses, commercial vehicles and motor cycles:

Electronic Stability Control (ESC) anti-skid system with capacity to reduce up to 40% of run-off road crashes. Now mandatory in most high income countries.

Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) automatically applies the brakes if the driver does not react and cancut collisions at low speed by 20%. Pedestrian systems are also appearing and will become an important injury prevention technology.

Motorcycle Anti-lock Brakes (ABS) improves stability and braking performance. Motorcycles equipped withABS have rate of fatal crashes 37 per cent lower thansame models without.

IIHS Prediction of US Registered Vehicles with Autonomous Emergency Braking (with 2022 Voluntary Commitment)

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Global NCAP’s Road Map for Safer Cars waslaunched in March 2015 and :

• Calls for the combination of stronger consumer information and universal application of minimum UN standards for

crash protection and avoidance.

• Ten key recommendations including the application to all new cars of the UN’s front, side and pedestrian impact crash tests and the anti-skid system, electronic stability control, by 2020 at the latest.

• Global NCAP updated the Road Map in November 2015 to include Automatic Emergency Braking and anti-lock brakes in motorcycles.

Democratizing Car Safety: A Road Map for Safer Cars 2020

• Meeting minimum crash standards costs less than US $200 per vehicle.

• Airbag costs have fallen by over 60% in 15 years to about US$50 per unit.

• Applying key crash avoidance technology (ABS/ESC) costs about $100 per vehicle.

• Car companies use global platforms to produce many different models with large costs reductions.

• Universal implementation of UN regulations bring economies of scale, and promote fair competition.

• Governments can promote safer cars by giving short term fiscal incentives for safety technologies.

• Fleet mangers can choose ‘five star’ safety rated vehicles.

Market Pull & Regulatory Push Makes Safety Affordable

Last year the 2nd Global High Level Conference on Road Safety held in Brasilia (18-19 November 2015) was held to review progress on the Decade of Action and on April 15 this was also debated by the UN General Assembly which adopted a new resolution on road safety. The Brasilia Declaration and the General Assembly recommends :

Policies and measures to implement United Nations vehicle safety regulations or equivalent national standards to ensure that all new motor vehicles, meet applicable minimum regulations for occupant and other road users protection, with seat belts, air bags and active safety systems as standard.

This is the clearest and strongest commitment made to vehicle safety made by UN Member States.

Brasilia Declaration and UN General Assembly Resolution

The inclusion of road safety in the SDGs, and growing support for the Safe SystemsApproach, is a unique opportunity for road injury prevention.

The target to halve road deaths by 2020 is very optimistic, but not to achieve this atthe very latest by 2030 would be tragic, scandalous, and an entirely avoidable failure.

The world’s best performing countries in road safety have a responsibility tomake sure this doesn’t happen and should demonstrate global leadership on this issue.

This is not just an opportunity to reduce road deaths, it is part of a wider humanitarianagenda to respect human life, to promote good governance, and to ensure that ourmobility needs are compatible with healthy living and sustainable development.

Ultimately effective road safety management is an example of a value system; a valuesystem driven by Vision Zero for a world free from road fatalities and serious injuries.

Global Goals and Road Safety: A Unique Opportunity

Global NCAP is pleased to acknowledge support from:

Thank You!