Major road safety stakeholders gather in Stockholm to set the scene for UN Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety

17 FEBRUARY 2020

Stockholm, SWEDEN: More than 1.35 million people die in road crashes every year. Up to 50 million suffer serious, often life-changing injuries. Crashes are now the number 1 cause of death for young people aged 5 to 29. If nothing changes, a staggering 500 million people will be killed or seriously injured in road crashes over the next decade, estimate experts.

Drastically reducing the number of road deaths and serious injuries requires innovative approaches on all fronts.

The Innovation Workshop 2020 takes place on the eve of the 3rd UN Ministerial Conference on Road Safety. Ministers of transport, health and other portfolios – 1700 delegates from 140 countries – will meet in Sweden’s capital on 19/20 February to set out an ambitious roadmap for reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries caused by road crashes.

The Global Road Safety Performance Targets agreed by UN Member States outline priority actions in support of those UN Sustainable Development Goals that will benefit from improved road safety. Targets 3 and 4 set the objective that

by 2030, all new roads achieve technical standards for all road users that take into account road safety, or meet a three-star rating or better (Target 3),
by 2030, more than 75% of travel on existing roads is on roads that meet technical standards for all road users that take into account road

How to upgrade the world’s road infrastructure over the coming decade to ensure safe travel for all by 2030 will be the core theme of the IRAP Innovation Workshop 2020.

Sessions over 1.5 days will focus on:

A Global Structure to Deliver the 2030 Road Safety Targets
Big Data for Big Life Savings
Global Planning and Design Standards – No More Killer New Roads
Celebrating Wins: From Local to Global Success
The Business Case for Safer Roads and Investment Innovation

The iRAP Innovation Workshop 2020 is an official pre-event of 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety. It will bring together more than 100 road safety advocates, experts and stakeholders from around the world. A joint communiqué will feed the workshop results into the Ministerial Conference.

The iRAP Innovation Workshop 2020 is jointly organised by the International Road Assessment Programme with the International Transport Forum (ITF), the World Bank and its Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF). Support is provided by the FIA Foundation and UK Aid.

Rob McInerney, CEO of iRAP, said:

“To halve road deaths and injuries by 2030 we must do more. The iRAP Innovation Workshop brings the best of the best together to share and scale success and unlock the full potential of safer roads to save lives. Innovative partnerships, planning, design, financing and construction is needed. A united focus on ensuring the global standard for 3-star or better roads for all road users is achieved will save lives.”

Young Tae Kim, ITF Secretary-General, said:

“iRAP Innovation Workshops drive progress in road safety. They provide thought leadership, coalesce participants around effective actions, and radiate their can-do spirit to the road safety community. The 2020 workshop will provide powerful support to Ministers meeting in Stockholm to chart a course towards halving road deaths by 2030.”

-ENDS-

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