EVENT SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE FUTURE:

1. Over 1.3 million people are killed on the world’s roads annually. More than 35 million predominantly young people suffer life-changing injuries every year that include an estimated 2,800,000 people with brain and head injuries, 48,000 people who become quadriplegic or paraplegic, 9,700,000 people with bone fractures and 330,000 people with skin degloving[1].

2. An estimated $US 6 billion of new costs are added to families, communities, the health and welfare sector, insurance and business every day.  The cost to economies in low, middle and high-income countries is typically between 2 and 7% of GDP per year.

3. Low and middle-income countries who do not invest in road safety stand to lose between 7 and 22% of potential per capita GDP growth over a 24-year period[2].  Tackling the road safety crisis is both a moral imperative and an economic necessity.[3]

4. To support the various UN Sustainable Development Goals that will benefit from improved road safety, the UN Member States have agreed Global Road Safety Performance Targets that outline the priorities for safe system action through to 2030.

5. Target 3 is focussed on ensuring all new roads meet the global standard for 3-star or better performance for all road users and Target 4 aims to ensure 75% of travel for each road user group is on roads where minimum technical safety standards have been applied[4].

6. The Global Road Safety Performance Targets for infrastructure, if achieved, have the potential to save 450,000+ lives a year and more than 100 million deaths and injuries over the life of the treatments.  $8 of benefits will accrue for every $1 invested.

7. Targeted investment in each country of 0.14% of GDP per year in safer road infrastructure and speed management will unlock these benefits.  Innovative result-based financing and multi-year partnerships to achieve >75% of travel on the equivalent of 3-star or better roads provides the framework and targets for national action and investment.

8. Impact Investment[5] and Road Safety Bonds provide a unique opportunity to connect the beneficiaries of reduced road trauma with the safe system actions that will make those life-saving benefits possible.  Understanding the true human and financial impact of road injury[6] is an essential prerequisite for this to happen.

9. Mobilising political commitment at the highest level is required to recognise the whole-of-government, economic, health and societal benefits of safer road infrastructure and improved urban transport systems.

10. Road safety is a necessity for health, climate, equity and prosperity.  The multi-faceted benefits of safe and sustainable transport systems are recognised through safer speeds[7], safer roads[8] and safer modes that contribute to reduced road trauma and emissions and more liveable communities.

11. The safe system and Vision Zero approach[9] must be integrated in policy-making and the daily operations of governments, businesses and corporations through their entire value chains.  Vision Zero and 5-star cities, 5-star journeys to school and 5-star motorways provide inspiration for what is possible and must be celebrated with the communities who benefit.

12. Agencies must accept accountability for road safety performance and implement the required safeguards and associated planning, design standards, procurement practices and delivery quality control to ensure the Global Road Safety Performance Targets are achieved by 2030.  Private sector and industry leadership in offering 3-star or better solutions for all road users is also an important lever for success.

13. Regional Road Safety Observatories will provide the cooperative platform for efficient national and international cooperation and the sharing of best practices through data-driven knowledge to accelerate policy, investment and performance monitoring.

14. The use of big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning as part of Ai-RAP partnerships with vehicle and technology suppliers will accelerate and transform the road safety data available to inform policy and decision over the next decade.

15. Support the call for a new target to halve deaths and serious injuries by 2030 as part of continued action on the Sustainable Development Goals, and commit to a step-change in the scale, urgency and action in support of the Global Road Safety Performance Target.