New Global Road Safety Target

16 September 2019

The UN Secretary-General’s report on improving global road safety, prepared by the World Health Organization in consultation with the United Nations regional commissions and other partners of the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration is available here.

The report highlights that while the number of road traffic deaths has stabilized, as indicated in the Global Status Report on Road Safety 2018 , significant reductions have not been observed, and road traffic injuries are now the leading cause of death for children and young adults between the ages of 5 and 29 years.

It stresses that more action is needed to eliminate road traffic deaths and injuries and sustain safe road environments and suggests that General Assembly may wish to reflect on how best to respond to the fact that the deadline for achieving target 3.6 of the Sustainable Development Goals is 2020. It recommends that since the target will not be reached on the basis of current projections, it may be worth considering extending the target date to 2030.

RoadSafe is a member of the United Nations Road safety Collaboration and assisted in the preparation of the report. We strongly support the  #50by30 campaign which calls for a new target to halve road deaths and serious injuries in a new decade of SDG action for road safety to 2030. A new target and a new decade of action will help to save 675,000 lives a year, accelerate progress in global road injury prevention, and work towards a world eventually free from road fatalities and serious injuries.