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

  • ERF calls for roads maintenance funding
    February 19, 2014
    On 27 November, six key stakeholders sounded an alarm bell to Member States urging them to stick to their pledges made at the International Transport Forum meeting in May 2013, where Ministers signed a joint declaration on Sustainable Infrastructure Financing On the occasion of the launch the latest consultation paper on ‘Roads that Cars can Read’, The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the International Road Transport Union (IRU), t
  • UN Summit launches Urban Electric Mobility Initiative to force leading cities into electric vehicles by 2030
    October 1, 2014
    The New York United Nations Climate Summit has prioritised four global transport initiatives as part of the eight actions areas that the summit has named as “critical for keeping global temperature increases to less than two degrees Celsius,” and the Urban Electric Mobility Initiative (UEMI) has taken centre stage. UEMI wants cities with a specific target to ensure that electric vehicles make up 30% of their total urban vehicle population by 2030 at the latest. Joan Clos, UN-Habitat Executive Director us
  • IRF Convenes Traffic Safety Specialists in Malaga
    May 14, 2018
    The incidence of road crashes continues to rise at an alarming rate, and is now a leading cause of death and serious injury among young adults in fast-motorising countries. 11 thought leaders combining extensive experience in economic analysis, diagnosis tools and countermeasures shared strategies and applied practices that can result in better dimensioned and targeted safety action plans. The closing roundtable examined the incentives that exist for stakeholders in emerging economies to collaborate across
  • Europe’s road safety targets at risk
    June 15, 2015
    The EU’s targets for road safety are at risk due to increased fatalities in France, Germany and UK. This new analysis has been published by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC). According to the ETSC data, 2014 showed the lowest annual reduction in EU road deaths since 2001. In all 25,845 people were killed in road crashes in the 28 nations of the EU during 2014. This represented a decrease of just 0.6% compared to 2013. EU member states now need to cut deaths by almost 8% each year until 2020 to me