Before we swung into the festive season, I headed out to Geneva for a two day endeavour to improve global road safety.
On 13th December, I attended the Annual Leadership Council of the Global Network for Road Safety Legislators. We reviewed the many challenges we face in stopping thousands of global citizens being killed or seriously injured every year. Annually, 1.3 million die from road related incidents. This is the greatest epidemic on our planet.
We are pleased to have secured a Sustainable Development Goal that aims to halve road deaths and serious injuries by 2030 #50by30. It was brought to light that 179 countries do not yet have optimal road safety legislation and we aim to change this to bring the number of incidents down. Rapid urbanisation means that many countries do not have safe infrastructure, transport or roads, leading to accidents that cause the shameful 1.3 million deaths annually.
I also attended the International Workshop on Speed Management on the 14th. Alongside alcohol, poor legislation on speed awareness and management leads to climbing deaths on our roads. I am determined to change this, and I am pleased by the progress and innovation of the colleagues I work alongside to alleviate the danger on our roads. I was also pleased to be re-elected the Chair of the Network and will continue to champion road safety in this role.
Barry Sheerman 