General Colonel Viktor Kiryanov, Chief State Traffic Safety Inspector of the Russian Federation, at the plenary opening
David Ward, Director General, FIA Foundation, addressing participants of the Congress
UK Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport Mike Penning MP (centre)
The third International Congress on ‘Road Safety for the Safety of Life’ was held at the historic Tavricheskiy Palace in St Petersburg in October. The event, chaired by Sergey Mironov, President of the Senate of the Russian Federation, was attended by over a thousand delegates from 16 countries and hosted by the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Speakers at the Congress included Hans Christian Schmidt, Minister of Transport of Denmark, Mike Penning , the Road Safety Minister of the UK, Oleg Belozerov, Deputy Minister of Transport for the Russian Federation, General Viktor Kiryanov, Chief State Traffic Safety Inspector of the Russian Federation, Dr Margie Peden, Global Coordinator of Unintentional Injuries of the World Health Organisation, and David Ward, Director General of the FIA Foundation. Welcome messages to the Congress were sent by both, Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin, respectively President and Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.
The Congress highlighted the road safety challenges facing the eleven member nations of the CIS which include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Presenting recent developments in the Russian Federation, General Viktor Kiryanov described the positive impact of legislative reform in road safety resulting in a significant reduction in road deaths.
Danish Transport Minister Hans Christian Schmidt applauded the Russian Federation for hosting last year’s first ever Global Ministerial Conference in Moscow and described the four main pillars of his Government’s road safety effort, consisting of targeted campaigns, safe infrastructure, safe vehicles through technology, and value for money through applicable analysis of road traffic accidents.
The UK road safety minister, Mike Penning pledged his governments support for the exchange of best practice in road safety. “Road Safety is a truly important global issue. 1.3 million people lost their lives in road accidents last year worldwide. In the UK we have some of the safest roads in the world. I am very proud of our road safety record, but am not complacent. That is why I am here today to share best practice and make roads across the world safe”. For the WHO, Dr Margie Peden outlined the plans to launch the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety to be held on May 11th and explained the Decade’s recently released ‘tag’ symbol.
Warning that more than 120,000 people are killed and 2.4 million are injured each year across the European region, David Ward of the FIA Foundation explained that effective road injury prevention programmes need a framework of good governance that should include:
- Transparent Data Collection - to give a strong evidence base for policy measures and action programmes.
- Ambitious Casualty Reduction Targets – to measure progress and stimulate national and local action.
- Enforcement & Awareness Programmes – to support the work of enforcement agencies linked to public awareness campaigns whilst avoiding corruption.
- Focus on ‘High Risk’ Groups – to develop policies with community involvement that protect those most likely to be involved in crashes, especially vulnerable road users, and
- Shared Responsibility – building co-operation between governments, local authorities, private sector and civil society.
The Congress held a series of seven roundtables on road safety investment, education and healthcare, traffic management, vehicle technology, infrastructure construction and maintenance, law enforcement, youth and civil society. The final plenary also adopted a final declaration which pledged to strengthen road safety cooperation across the CIS and set out recommendations on the provision of legislation to improve the regions road safety.
See the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States website >
Download data on road accidents for January-September 2010 (2mb PDF) >