Under the motto #MakeASecurityDeclarationThe campaign will also reinforce the key messages of the new Decade of Action for Road Safety, which aims to halve the number of road casualties by 2030.
“Road safety is not high enough on the political agenda in most countries. While we know the remedies for road accidents, action lags behind,” said Jean Todt, UN Special Envoy for Road Safety.
“With this campaign, together with the celebrities who join us and our partners JCDecaux and Saatchi & Saatchi, we are trying to reverse this and mobilize the political will needed to increase actions and funding to save millions of lives,” he added.
The campaign will start in New York and run until 2025. Through billboards, social media and other platforms, the campaign will reach approximately 1,000 cities in more than 80 countries.
So far, 14 celebrities, including tennis legend Novak Djokovic, Oscar-winning actress and UN Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador Michelle Yeoh and supermodel Naomi Campbell have pledged their support to the campaign.
They all gave their own statement, such as ‘I drive slowly’ or ‘I do not drive under the influence’.
The ‘silent pandemic’
Speaking at a press conference at UN headquarters in New York, Mr Todt stressed that road traffic accidents are the “number one cause of death” for people aged 5 to 29, with the vast majority living in low- and middle-income countries.
He noted that 1.2 million people die in traffic every year and another 40 to 50 million are injured, many seriously.
“It is a burden for the victims (and) for the family, but it is also a high price for the countriesMr Todt continued, adding that the “prescriptions” for this problem include education, communications, law enforcement, in addition to the quality of roads and vehicles.
Fasten seat belts
As a motorsport club director and former rally driver, Special Envoy Todt stressed that simple measures such as fastening seat belts in both the front and back seats or wearing a helmet can significantly improve safety.
In addition, drivers and passengers are not allowed to use drugs, alcohol or phones while driving a vehicle, and they are also not allowed to drive too fast.
Main solution for road safety
The launch of the campaign follows the recent approval of a solution by the General Assembly to improve road safety worldwide.
The resolution, adopted last week, calls for greater efforts to reduce road deaths and injuries through the implementation of the Global Action Plan for the Decade of Road Safety 2021-2030.
It urges Member States to ensure that road safety becomes a ‘political priority’, and invites those that have not yet done so to ‘consider adopting comprehensive legislation on key risk factors’, such as the failure to use seat belts, child seats and helmets, as well as drink-driving and speeding.
Member States are also encouraged to set up “ministerial coordination mechanisms”, in particular between the Ministries of Health, Transport, Education, Infrastructure, Interior and Environment, to address cross-border issues.
