iRAP is proud to be supporting World Safety 2024 from 31 August to 4 September in India, to bring global attention to road crashes as the leading cause of death and injury for young people, and the critical importance of safe roads to achieve the UN Global Goal of halving road deaths and injuries by 2030.

The 15th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion (Safety 2024) will focus worldwide attention on the global burden of injury, and gather international experts with a united goal of “Building a safer future for all: Equitable and sustainable strategies for injury and violence prevention”.

IndiaRAP Technical Manager Jigesh Bhavar and iRAP Global Programme Director Greg Smith will join the conference and shed light on:

• Powered two-wheeler safety [full-day pre-conference workshop on 31 August]
• Challenges, research gaps and learnings from implementation of global road safety programmes with Child Health Initiative partners [half-day pre-conference workshop on 1 September]
• Road safety financing [panel session from 13:00 – 14:00 hours on 3 September]
• How safe the world’s roads are, the human and economic impact of road crash injury, and the Business Case for Safer Roads by 2030 for every country [poster presentation]
• IndiaRAP: A locally owned and led, globally supported road safety assessment programme for India [oral presentation]
• Safety perception and safety measures: Joint forces to improve safety for youth around schools (Star Rating for Schools and the Youth Engagement App) [oral presentation]
• Hitting the target: What 75% of travel means for cyclists and women [oral presentation]
• CycleRAP – Demystifying safe infrastructure for cyclists: Low-risk examples from five cities [poster presentation]
• European Project PHOEBE: A predictive road safety approach for emerging urban challenges [poster presentation]

Johns Hopkins University research recently shared in PLOS One that confirms iRAP partners’ impact saving almost 700,000 deaths and serious injuries in 74 countries since 2016 will also be celebrated.

Informing injury prevention

iRAP’s Safety Insights will support evidence-based discussion, decision-making and investment prioritisation.

The recently updated and critical datahub draws on latest injury and iRAP data from assessments across nearly 600,000km of roads in more than 80 countries. It estimates the costs of fatalities and injuries by injury type, road user, age and sex, and shares how safe each country’s and the world’s roads are, the road attributes that matter, and Business Case for achieving the majority of travel on 3-star or better road infrastructure by 2030.

The tool estimates that road deaths and injuries cost the global economy US $3.6 trillion annually (equivalent to more than 3% of GDP), with fatalities costing $753 billion annually, followed by limb fractures ($616 billion) and severe acquired brain injury ($414 billion).

Powered two-wheeler safety

Motorcyclists and other powered two-and three-wheeled vehicle riders make up nearly a quarter of the 1.19 million annual road traffic deaths globally, with the number of these vehicles nearly tripling in the decade to 2021.

Don’t miss the full day pre-workshop ahead of World Safety entitled “Leaving No-one Behind – Powered Two-Wheelers Safety in the Sustainable Development Agenda”:
Date: Saturday, 31 August 2024
Time: 09:00 – 17:00
Location: India Habitat Centre
Organiser: Asian Development Bank, in collaboration with iRAP, the Asia Pacific Regional Road Safety Observatory (APRSO), FIA Foundation, Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP), Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety, World Health Organisation and Towards Zero Foundation.

The workshop will explore the data and research requirements for improving action to address powered two-wheeler safety in low and middle-income countries with a focus on key emerging and existing road infrastructure, road user and vehicle safety interventions.

To support the discussions, iRAP has released its updated 2024 iRAP Powered Two Wheelers and Road Infrastructure Safety Dashboard which draws on safety assessments performed around the world using the standardized iRAP methodology to provide invaluable insights into the standard of infrastructure provided for PTWs worldwide. Explore the dashboard here and see the media release here.

Registration is free with the discount code DISWORKSHOPSAFETY100.

Safe, low-speed journeys to school

Another half-day pre-conference workshop not to be missing is entitled “Challenges, research gaps and learnings from implementation of global road safety programmes with Child Health Initiative partners”:
Date: Sunday, 1 September 2024
Time: 13:00 – 17:00
Location: India Habitat Centre
Organiser: FIA Foundation / Child Health Initiative (CHI)

The event will include a panel on safe, low speed journeys to school with CHI partners including iRAP, UNICEF, Amend, GDCI, amongst others, featuring case studies, roundtable discussions, and planning for Marrakesh 2025.

Register here.

Every child has the right to use safe roads (Credit: Child Health Initiative)

Looking forward to seeing you!

Greg Smith, Global Programme Director at iRAP said, “We are now halfway through the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030, with the global goal of halving road deaths and serious injuries by 2030.

“As countries prepare for the 4th Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Morocco next year, and plan commitments for the next five years, Safety 2024 will provide important focus on the very high and preventable toll of road crash injury, and evidence-based interventions that are transforming safety and sustainable mobility for vulnerable road users,” Mr Smith said.

If you’d like to meet with Greg or Jigesh during the Conference to learn more about iRAP and IndiaRAP, and how the iRAP methodology and tools can help you make your roads safer, please contact them on email greg.smith@irap.org or jigesh.bhavsar@irap.org