Global Campaign for Road Safety - Press Conference.
Hybrid press briefing by Jean Todt, the Secretary General's Special Envoy for Road Safety, along with Jean-Luc Decaux, President and Co-CEO
Hybrid press briefing by Jean Todt, the Secretary General's Special Envoy for Road Safety, along with Jean-Luc Decaux, President and Co-CEO at JCDecaux North America, and Edward Mermelstein, New York City's Commissioner for International Affairs. They will brief reporters on the UN-JCDecaux Global Campaign for Road Safety.
Briefing journalists on a new UN-JCDecaux Global Campaign for Road Safety, today (1 Jul) the Secretary General's Special Envoy for Road Safety, Jean Todt, said the road is the "number one killer for youth," which, he added, is "a burden for the victims, for the family, but it's also high cost for the countries."
Todt explained that 1.2 million people die on the road every year, while 40 to 50 million people are "injured with disability."
The Special Envoy said Sustainable Development Goal 3.6 (SDG 3.6) target of halving the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents could be achieved with "simple things like buckling the safety belt in the front and in the rear; wearing a proper UN standard helmet - incidentally, which can be sold below 20 US dollars - not using your phone while driving, not drinking, or taking drugs while driving, and respecting the speed,"
New York City's Commissioner for International Affairs, Edward Mermelstein told the briefing that "New York City streets are notably safer and more equitable" after 10 years of implementing Vision Zero, a multi-national road traffic safety project.
Mermelstein said, "as the first American city to undertake such an ambitious safety program, New York City has set a model that other cities, states and countries are now emulating. Since the launch of Vision Zero, overall traffic deaths have declined by more than 12 percent and the pedestrian deaths have decreased by 45 percent, when you compare data from 2023 to 2013."
The President and Co-CEO of outdoor advertising corporation JCDecaux, North America, Jean-Luc Decaux, said, "it is legislation, regulations, and technology combined that could prevent the text and drive for example. I mean, we've all had teenagers driving, and I know that on your cell phone you can have a setting that, you know, when it records, you know, the phone going at a certain speed, you can't receive text messages. So, the technology is already there. So, question after that is about legislations, you know. I know that we're not a society where we want to be told by our government what you can and cannot do. But you know, when lives are at stake, there is a question that needs to be asked."
UN-JCDecaux Global Campaign for Road Safety aims to create secure, inclusive and sustainable streets worldwide.
Watch the Global Campaign for Road Safety - Press Conference.