A commitment to ensuring that every journey on your roads and streets is safe

I had the opportunity to speak at the United Nations ESCAP Committee on Transport recently. Here's what I said.

We are now in the second year of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030.

Enormous progress is being made globally in tackling poor road safety performance, but much more is needed if we are to achieve what we promised our communities – a halving of road deaths and injuries by 2030.

The International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) is a charity dedicated to creating a world free of high-risk roads. Through our Partnerships for 2030 Impact strategy, we are collaborating with thousands of partners around the world to find ways to make every journey on a road a safe one.

We are supporting the implementation of the Global Plan for the Decade of Action 2021-30 and the United Nations agreed Global Road Safety Performance Targets – Target 3 for all new roads to be 3-star or better for all road users and Target 4 for more than 75% of travel on existing roads to be at that same 3-star or better equivalent standard. We are also very supportive of the UNESCAP regional plan for road safety.

Many countries in the region have already set objective, evidence-based policy targets that align with the Global Plan. In this region that includes Vietnam and Australia, and farther afield that includes Uganda and Brazil. Those countries are now focused and able to celebrate success with every 3-star or better road upgrade in their country. Your country can too.

The iRAP methodology and tools are freely available worldwide. With those tools, partners in government, development banks, research institutes, NGOs and the private sector are:

• Star Rating roads, schools and designs for safety.
• Creating practical, effective plans for investment in life saving road improvements.
• Building local road safety capacity and expertise.
• Establishing and monitoring policies that will see most travel on 3-star or better roads for everyone – including the ESCAP regional strategy.
• Creating design standards such as the ESCAP safety standard for the Asian Highway Network.
• And, most importantly, saving lives and preventing life-changing injuries.

More than 1 million km of roads have now been Star Rated worldwide. Our latest analysis of a sample of assessments of roads that have been performed by partners in 83 countries helps to explain why road trauma is still so common. For example:

• 82% of roads where speeds are 40km/h or more still have no formal sidewalks for pedestrians.
• 76% of roads where speeds are 80km/h or more still have no median separation, meaning people are killed in head-on crashes with predictable regularity.
• 35% of pedestrian crossings are still in poor condition.
• More than 50% of travel for vulnerable road users is still on 1 or 2-star roads.

These are concerning statistics. But they also point to the enormous opportunities that we have to protect our communities.

Good speed management and infrastructure such as 30km/h speeds in busy built-up areas, bicycle lanes, sidewalks, raised slow-speed pedestrian crossings and safety barriers are like vaccines – with them we can eradicate road death and serious injury.

These types of treatments have large, positive multiplier effects. Protected bicycle lanes not only save lives but for every $200 spent, one tonne of greenhouse gas emissions is mitigated each year. Street lighting at intersections improves safety for everyone but we also know it is an important factor in ensuring people, especially women, feel comfortable walking more.

Providing a 5-star walking and cycling environment will stimulate greater use of public transport, which must be a part of our strategy for safe and sustainable journeys, especially in Asia where more than 100,000 people are moving to cities every day. Cities such as Bangkok, Jakarta and Manila are showing how to stimulate sustainable transport by providing the option for people to take public transport.

Investment in safe and sustainable infrastructure is also one of the best ways for governments to stimulate economies, with more than $8 of benefits for every $1 invested in safe infrastructure development. Infrastructure investment boosts economic activity, creates jobs and leaves a positive legacy of economic growth that is more resilient, sustainable, and productive.

So, I urge everyone here today, to make use of the ESCAP regional strategy make full use of the freely available iRAP tools as part of a commitment to ensuring that every journey on your roads and streets is safe. Lives depend on us.