Skip to main content

Slow down for road safety says FIA

Driving too fast is a leading cause of road fatalities, according to the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) Region I. Data from the FIA says that an estimated 40%-50% of people drive over the speed limit while a 5% reduction in average speed could result in a 30% decrease in number of fatal crashes. FIA Region I and its members in Europe, the Middle East and Africa are launching a campaign ‘Slowing Down Saves Lives’ and are urging drivers to respect speed limits. In support of the campaign, FI
September 19, 2018 Read time: 3 mins
Driving too fast is a leading cause of road fatalities, according to the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) Region I. Data from the FIA says that an estimated 40%-50% of people drive over the speed limit while a 5% reduction in average speed could result in a 30% decrease in number of fatal crashes. 8055 FIA Region I and its members in Europe, the Middle East and Africa are launching a campaign ‘Slowing Down Saves Lives’ and are urging drivers to respect speed limits.


In support of the campaign, FIA President and United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety Jean Todt said, “Remember, speed can kill. By slowing down we make our roads safer for our children, family, and friends. Recently, Patrick Dempsey has joined the FIA’s #3500LIVES Global Road Safety Campaign to promote the ‘Slow Down for Kids’ rule. We are happy that famous ambassadors have agreed to help us make road safety a priority. I support the FIA Region I campaign Slowing Down Saves Lives.”

European Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc said, “The safety of road users is very close to my heart. Everyone deserves the best safety and care when enjoying the benefits that mobility brings. We are working towards Vision Zero for road fatalities and serious injuries by 2050. This can only be achieved if we all come together and work towards this goal. I’m therefore grateful to FIA Region I for its consistent drive towards better safety through its campaigns, including Slowing Down Saves Lives. Speed is one of the main killers on our roads and we must do much more to raise awareness about it. Slowing down really does save lives!”

FIA Region I President, Thomas Møller Thomsen said, “Speeding is a recurrent issue in advanced economies and developing countries alike. Many people need to be reminded to respect speed limits. Slowing Down Saves Lives urges drivers to remember that increased speed means increased risk. We all want to get home safe, so the next time you are behind the wheel I hope you remember to respect the speed limits.”

Slowing Down Saves Lives shows how braking distances differ dramatically with even small increases in speed. It aims to urge drivers to respect speed limits. It has been launched during the EU mobility Week and on the European Day Without A Road Death (Project EDWARD) and was held in support of TISPOL’s efforts to reduce traffic fatalities via this initiative.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Europe’s road safety targets at risk
    July 10, 2015
    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 meet the target set in 2010 to halve deaths within a decade.
  • Making roads safer for the young
    February 27, 2018
    Children are at serious risk on Europe’s road network. This is the finding of a new report from the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC). According to the ETSC’s analysis of crash data, more than 8,000 children aged 0-14 years have been killed in road traffic collisions over the last 10 years in the European Union. Half of the children killed were travelling in cars, a third were walking and 13% were cycling, with one in every 13 child deaths in the European Union being the result of a road collision.
  • Road safety improvement for the US
    December 11, 2012
    The US is seeing improvements in road safety overall, with a drop in road crash statistics for 2011. The data for 2011 is encouraging and the US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released a new analysis indicating that highway deaths fell to 32,367 in 2011. This marked the lowest level of road related fatalities since 1949, 1.9% decrease from the previous year. Furthermore, this updated 2011 data show the historic downward trend in recent years continu
  • Safer roads for UK?
    February 29, 2012
    A major campaign is commencing in the UK with the laudable aim of reducing road fatality rates.