Skip to main content

ITF and FIA launch road safety co-operation on traffic crash data

A three-year programme has been agreed intended to improve the collection and use of traffic crash data. This landmark agreement forms part of the joint effort for UN’s Decade of Action for Road Safety. The partnership which will focus on the improvement of road safety data and its analysis was agreed between the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and the International Transport Forum (ITF). FIA President Jean Todt signed the agreement together with the ITF Secretary-General José Viegas at an
May 22, 2014 Read time: 3 mins
A three-year programme has been agreed intended to improve the collection and use of traffic crash data. This landmark agreement forms part of the joint effort for UN’s 3439 Decade of Action for Road Safety. The partnership which will focus on the improvement of road safety data and its analysis was agreed between the 7115 Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and the 1102 International Transport Forum (ITF). FIA President Jean Todt signed the agreement together with the ITF Secretary-General José Viegas at an official ceremony at the ITF’s Annual Summit of Transport Ministers in Leipzig, Germany.

The initiative aims to support the 3262 United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety in its goal of significantly reducing traffic-related deaths and injuries by 2020. Around 1.3 million people die in road crashes every year and around 50 million are seriously injured. The global death toll from traffic is expected to rise to 2 million annually with a further 80 million serious injuries by 2020 unless action is taken.

The co-operation will focus on improving data collection, the analysis of which underpins road safety policy decisions. Welcoming the new partnership, FIA President Jean Todt said, “Together with the ITF we have agreed to work on the development of universal road traffic safety indicators which can be of great help to our members when addressing national road safety problems. The expertise which the ITF has acquired in the area of road safety data collection and analysis will allow us to better evaluate crash trends, improve the analysis of risk exposure and design more effective road safety policies.”

“Good road safety data is critical for any road safety research, policy and crash prevention activities,” said ITF Secretary-General José Viegas, praising FIA’s strong support and commitment. “The lack of road safety data globally creates a significant difficulty in assessing the specific road safety issues, evaluating the economic impact of road traffic deaths and injuries, identifying the optimum interventions and monitoring the impact of countermeasures.”

Among other road safety activities, the ITF, through its International Traffic Safety Data and Analysis Group (3444 IRTAD), has worked since 2008 to organise twinning between interested countries to improve the collection and analysis of road safety data. This has brought together countries such as Argentina/Spain, Cambodia/Netherlands and Jamaica/UK. The successful twinning between Spain and Argentina spawned the IberoAmerican Road Safety Observatory (OISEVI), a regional road safety collaboration that brings together 22 countries. The ITF also publishes the IRTAD Road Safety Annual Report, a performance review, and manages the IRTAD road safety database, with data from 32 countries.

The FIA Action for Road Safety Campaign was launched in May 2011 to support the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety. The campaign has involved advocacy at the highest levels to push leaders to commit to road safety both nationally and globally. It has also included supporting action by the 236 FIA Member Clubs in 139 countries worldwide to educate and advocate for safer roads, vehicles and behaviour on the ground. So far, 90 road safety projects in over 50 countries have been funded by the FIA Road Safety Grant Programme And the FIA has also launched worldwide road safety campaigns and programs, either alone or with partners, both institutional and private. For example, together with 720 Michelin, FIA has promoted 10 Golden Rules for Road Safety worldwide.

Related Content

  • 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
  • EU missing target of halving road deaths by 2020, says ETSC
    April 12, 2018
    Halving the number of deaths on Europe’s roads by 2020 is not likely to be achieved, according to the European Transport Safety Council. The 28 members of the European Union reduced the number of road deaths by 20% from 2010-2017, far less than the 38% cut needed to stay on course to meet the 2020 target. The European Commission has just published data showing that deaths on EU roads fell by only 2% last year, following a similar decrease in 2016 and a 1% increase in 2015. “For four years in a row, the
  • Milan wins prestigious ITF transport award for its urban road pricing scheme
    May 20, 2014
    The Italian city of Milan has won the 2014 Transport Achievement Award (TAA) for its ‘Area C’ urban road pricing scheme. The TAA is awarded annually by the International Transport Forum (ITF) at the OECD, an intergovernmental organisation for the transport sector with 54 member countries. The award will be presented tomorrow in the presence of ministers from around the world during the opening plenary of their global transport summit organised by the ITF. Milan, said by the ITF to be one of the most c
  • IRF side event at 2nd Global High Level Conference on Road Safety in Brasilia, Brazil
    January 4, 2016
    IRF Geneva, together with the Multi-lateral Development Banks (MDBs), and the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) organised a side event called “Safe Infrastructure for All Users.” The side event provided information about various tools and ongoing initiatives under Pillar 2 “Safe roads and mobility” of the Decade of Action. Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Transport of India, presided over a very well attended side event. Gadkari highlighted the importance of addressing the road safety of a