A global road safety week will be held in 2007 to raise awareness about road traffic injuries, a UN body in Geneva has agreed.
The Road Traffic Safety Working Group of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) has approved plans to bring forward its four yearly road safety week to 2007 and to globalise the campaign, in recognition of the urgent nature of the road traffic injury problem facing many parts of the developing world. A proposal from the FIA Foundation that the week should particularly focus on the road safety needs of children, young road users and novice drivers was also approved.
The last road safety week was held in April 2004, to coincide with the first WHO World Health Day dedicated to road safety. Delegates of the UN regional commissions for Latin America, Africa and Western Asia attending the UNECE meeting also gave their support to the plan for a global campaign. As well as most European nations, governments represented at the Working Party on Road Traffic Safety include the United States, Canada and Russia.