Skip to main content

Initiative to Include Road Safety in Sustainable Development Goals

Road safety is a key issue for sustainable development targets. During the Rio+20 Conference in 2012, it was agreed by member States to launch a process to develop a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to build on the Millennium Development Goals and converge with the post-2015 development agenda. Over the past six months, IRF Geneva has undertaken a sustained campaign to ensure that road safety is included in the SDGs. As part of this, Kiran K Kapila, chairman, IRF Geneva, has reached out, amon
September 15, 2015 Read time: 4 mins
Road safety in developing nations can form part of sustainable development targets
RSSRoad safety is a key issue for sustainable development targets

During the Rio+20 Conference in 2012, it was agreed by member States to launch a process to develop a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to build on the Millennium Development Goals and converge with the post-2015 development agenda.

Over the past six months, 1201 IRF Geneva has undertaken a sustained campaign to ensure that road safety is included in the SDGs. As part of this, Kiran K Kapila, chairman, IRF Geneva, has reached out, amongst others, to the UN Secretary General, United Nations for Economic Cooperation for Africa, Transport Ministers of APEC countries, the Prime Minister of India, the Heads of States of the African Union. The aim of this approach is to have road safety covered under 3.6.1 to 3.6.3 of the SDGs titled, “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”. The following additions to the objective on Road Safety have been proposed:

3.6.1 Strengthening the capacity of all countries, in particular, developing countries, for ensuring proper integration of road safety into existing systems at the policy, legislative, implementation and operational levels.

3.6.2 Substantially increase funding available for road safety by earmarking adequate financial resources in the general budget.

3.6.3 Ensure adequate data collection and management to measure the results of actions undertaken for defining appropriate strategies.

Road safety in developing nations can form part of sustainable development targets

World Road Statistics – 2015 Edition

The International Road Federation, Geneva has been collecting and publishing the World Road Statistics (WRS), the only comprehensive, universal source of statistical data on road networks, traffic and inland transport, for the last 52 years.

During this time the WRS have developed into an invaluable and internationally accepted reference for governments, NGOs, investments banks, and research institutes.

The WRS includes data, by country, on the length and quality of the road network, the volume of traffic, a comparison of road transport with other transport modes and the size and composition of the vehicle fleet. It also covers the number of road accidents and fatalities, production, imports, first registrations and exports of motor vehicles, and expenditures on developing and maintaining the road network, and energy consumption.

This data is available for the period 2000 – 2013 and the latest edition of the WRS – the WRS 2015 - is now ready for release.

The 2015 Edition now includes data for 205 countries (compared to 200 in 2014), it includes new data on the unpaved road network in a country, and the data for the period 2008 – 2013 has been made consistent with the data from 2000 – 2007.

The World Bank:

“The World Bank Group greatly values its longstanding collaboration with the IRF, whose rigorous and comprehensive World Road Statistics form a prime basis for the transport services data compiled in our annual World Development Indicators.”

AASHTO:

“We admire the IRF’s emphasis on safety and transportation best practices, and we continue to value the IRF’s advocacy and overall mission, ‘Better roads. Better World’.”

The International Road Union (IRU):

“The IRF World Road Statistics are an essential complement to our own studies and have a well-deserved reputation as a comprehensive and up-to-date source of key road infrastructure and traffic data. Together, they serve as vital tools for the development of sustainable, fact-based transport policies worldwide.”

The International Energy Agency (IEA):

“We congratulate the IRF for this 50th Anniversary edition of its World Road Statistics, which have been especially valuable in the IEA’s analysis of global land transport infrastructure requirements to 2050.”

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD):

““The IRF World Road Statistics publication is an invaluable resource for understanding the importance of roads worldwide.”
















































For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Joining forces on safety'
    April 12, 2012
    The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) welcomed the launch of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety, saying it will enable the European Union to join forces in tackling road safety at a global level. The UN move aims to reduce by 50% the projected increase in road deaths by 2020, and was developed with the support of the World Health Organisation (WHO), which predicts that road traffic injuries will rise to become the fifth leading cause of death by 2030 in the world. It demanded action to correct t
  • Thirst for Infrastructure: The Belt & Road Initiative
    November 8, 2017
    Susanna Zammataro, IRF Geneva, writes: The China Highway and Transportation Society (CHTS) – an esteemed member of IRF – will be hosting a special Session on the Belt and Road Initiative during the IRF World Meeting in Delhi, 14th-17th November 2017. Last May, president Xi Jinping welcomed 28 heads of state and government to Beijing to celebrate the “Belt and Road” initiative, an ambitious plan in terms of infrastructure development, but also in terms of foreign policy. Launched in 2013 as “One belt, On
  • IRF Releases Guidelines on Safety in Road Work Zones
    June 15, 2018
    Work zones present an increased risk for workers who build, repair, and maintain roads, bridges, and tunnels, as well as for a variety of road users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists, who are confronted with less than ideal safety conditions in these work zones. Global statistics on work zone-related injuries are not available, however the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) reported 25,485 of work zone crashes involving at least one injured party in 2015, of which 642 resulted in
  • Caribbean: a region stepping up to the road safety challenge
    July 5, 2016
    Transport Minister sets ambitious Vision at IRF Caribbean Regional Congress. Returning to Montego Bay, Jamaica, IRF’s 5th Caribbean Regional Congress was dominated this year by discussions focused on reducing injury risk through coordinated action by public and private sector stakeholders. Close to 100 participants from a host of Caribbean nations have reaffirmed a vision for roads free from death and serious injury. Many of Jamaica’s government departments with a role in achieving this vision were prese