Hamilton joins 'Make roads safe'-campaign
A worldwide 'Decade of Action' to combat the growing global road deaths crisis is needed to save 5 million lives and prevent 50 million serious injuries, says Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton in support of a new report by the FIA's Make Roads Safe campaign.
Lewis Hamilton today joined the FIA in calling for a coordinated UN action plan as road crashes are set to become the leading cause of disability and premature death for children aged 5-14 across developing countries by 2015.
Speaking at the UK launch of the new report in Parliament, Hamilton said: "I want to use my profile as world champion to do what I can to help raise awareness about global road deaths “ and what can be done to prevent them.
"In the UK we have made great progress on road safety, but much more can be done. We need a global Decade of Action to cut the number of deaths by half. It is an ambitious vision, but not an impossible one. And it could help to save millions of lives."
The new 'Make Roads Safe' report, endorsed by the world's leading road safety experts, urges UN governments attending the first ever global conference on road safety in Moscow in November, to support a global 'Decade of Action for Road Safety' with the aim of reducing the predicted level of road fatalities by 50% by 2020. The report argues that between 2010-2020 the international community should invest in a $300 million action plan to help boost traffic injury prevention and re-focus national road safety policies and budgets in developing countries. According to the report:
* More than one million people are killed on the roads of developing countries every year, and tens of millions are injured, a toll set to double by 2030. Road crashes are already the leading global cause of death for young people aged 10-24;
* Road crashes have now overtaken malaria and tuberculosis as a major killer in developing countries;
* They are forecast to be the number one cause of disability and premature death for children aged 5-14 in developing countries by 2015, according to WHO projections.
The launch was organised jointly by the Make Roads Safe campaign, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS).
Carey Oppenheim, IPPR Co-Director said: "We have a good record on road safety in the UK, but we know we must not be complacent. Other leading governments are taking the agenda forward globally and we must also make a strong commitment to the 'Decade of Action'."
David Ward Director General of the FIA Foundation said: "We welcome the Government's proposals to make Britain's roads the 'safest in the world'. This vision must also include a commitment to do much more to share the UK's knowledge and expertise with the developing countries where road deaths are increasing rapidly."
Visit: http://www.makeroadssafe.org
