Jean Todt, FIA President, stated: “I am delighted that the FIA, ITF and World Bank have today committed to working together to promote the establishment of regional observatories for road safety around the world. The goal is to facilitate better coordination and cooperation between governments by encouraging the exchange of best practices between neighbouring countries.”

Together, the respective executives of the three parties, Jean Todt, FIA President, José Luis Irigoyen, Senior Director, Transport and ICT at the World Bank and José Viegas, Secretary General of the ITF have signed an official Letter of Intent, which shall be the starting point for the establishment of a Memorandum of Understanding before the end of 2017. The goal of this declaration is to encourage countries to engage and collaborate in joint road safety projects and help increase visibility of the road safety challenge within regions.

José Viegas, Secretary-General of the International Transport Forum (ITF), said: “Good road safety data saves lives. Exchange of best practices among countries improves the ability to set better policies that make roads safer. We are delighted to enter into this partnership with FIA and the World Bank to further build the basis for an evidence-based and effective road safety in Latin America. This project, which builds on work that we have undertaken in the region for many years, will take it to a new level.”

"The World Bank is very pleased to work with FIA and the ITF on this important subject. Our own experience has shown the value of the regional observatory model towards building sustainable road safety management at the country level" declared José Luis Irigoyen, Senior Director, Transport and ICT at the World Bank.

The Regional Road Safety Observatories will have 3 primary objectives:

• Improve the quality of road safety data collection, especially in low- and middle-income countries
• Identify key data elements and indicators (such as road designs, vehicle safety standards, speed, behaviours, etc.)
• Create a platform for knowledge sharing of best practices