US Congressman Robert Wexler
The US House of Representatives has unanimously approved a resolution introduced by Congressman Robert Wexler supporting a Decade of Action for Road Safety and urging the Obama Administration to take a “leadership role” in the forthcoming global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Moscow.
The Resolution gives full backing to the Decade of Action proposal together with a global target to reduce by 50 percent the predicted increase road deaths between 2010 and 2020.
The first ever global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, due to take place on 19-20 November, is expected to include proposals for a ‘Decade of Action’ for Road Safety on its agenda which would tackle the projected increase in road deaths and injuries around the world.
Congressman Wexler said he wants to take the issue forward together with President Obama and in Congress.
"Every year, road travel results in the deaths of 1.3 million people. This is the equivalent of ten jumbo jets crashing every day," he said. "Many of these tragic deaths could be prevented by collaborative efforts between the United States, foreign governments, and international organisations aimed at raising road standards and preventing traffic injuries. I hope that the unanimous passing of this resolution by the House of Representatives sheds light on this global health epidemic, and I look forward to working with the Obama Administration and my colleagues on the Congressional Caucus on Global Road Safety on this important issue."
The text of the Resolution calls on the US to work together with other countries and international organisations on key areas of road safety policy and also to improve its own record by setting “ambitious” road traffic casualty reduction targets.
At the same time, high level support in the US for the Decade of Action agenda is also expected to come at the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting. Make Roads Safe global ambassador Michelle Yeoh is due to launch a commitment to save lives across developing countries through improved road infrastructure safety at CGI’s gathering of political and business leaders, celebrities and heads of NGOs.
Bella Dinh Zarr, Director of the Make Roads Safe campaign in the US, said: “This important endorsement of our proposal for a Decade of Action is a clear sign that global road safety is getting established on the political agenda. Many major US NGOs and public health organizations have worked through the Make Roads Safe campaign to encourage members of Congress to support this resolution. Now we need to see this growing awareness of the scale of the problem translated into real action by Congress and by the government.”
Download the House Concurrent Resolution 74 on global road safety>
See the New York Times coverage of the CGI global road safety commitment >
View the video coverage of the US House of Representatives passing the resolution on global road safety >