As Governments progress discussions on the post-2015 global agenda, identifying and highlighting solutions to achieve safe and sustainable roads is increasingly relevant.

The IRF-FIA seminar, held on 17 April at the FIA’s premises in Paris, brought together thought-leaders, decision-makers, experts and diverse entities from the public sector, private sector and civil society to address the issue of safe and sustainable roads and financing.

Looking at challenges and opportunities, the participants shared ideas, views and practices on road safety. According to these experts, several elements are key for achieving road safety goals:

• Governments should make road safety a key national priority for improving the development of their respective country: providing more support to effective road safety initiatives, according to the safe system approach, will contribute to significantly reducing deaths and injuries, with their accompanying economic and social costs.

• Multilateral Development Banks (MDB) should ensure that at least 10 % of their investment in roads is targeted at safety.  There should be more investment in upgrading existing roads to improve their safety and to make them more forgiving. Infrastructure Bonds based on the PPP approach should also channel more resources to road safety.

• Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) can play an important role in shaping the future of safe mobility and the transport sector. ITS investments and applications should be encouraged to enhance road safety and to safely engage road users.  ITS developments should also take into consideration the provision of smartphone connections in African and Asian regions.

• Information about the safety performance of motor vehicles should be widely distributed to consumers - in particular in regions with increasing rates of motorization. At the same time, it is essential to establish a harmonised global minimum construction standard, by applying the minimum United Nations safety standards: these tests represent the minimum acceptable level of vehicle crashworthiness in most industrialised countries and should be the reference for vehicle safety.

• Various initiatives for education in schools and communities should be developed and supported by both Governments and NGOs. Cooperation among different stakeholders should be encouraged and supported, to make sure road safety interventions deliver effective and appropriate results.

• Trauma care initiatives should be strengthened.  Motorists and heavy duty vehicle drivers should be trained in first-aid trauma care. Where possible, first-aid trauma training should be made mandatory for procuring a license.

• Governments should consider giving corporate and individual tax benefits for investments in road safety initiatives.

This seminar highlighted the relevance and importance of collaborations between organisations such as the FIA and the IRF. Only by working together toward the goals of the Decade of Action for Road Safety can we make progress in saving lives by keeping road safety on both international and national agendas.