Global view on Safe and Sustainable Roads

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Global view on Safe and Sustainable Roads"

Daniella Chase
5 years ago
Views:

1 Global view on Safe and Sustainable Roads Jose Viegas Secretary General Road Safety, Sustainable Development and Financing Paris, 17 April 2014

2 2 Road safety: A global challenge 1.24 million people die each year on the roads 20 to 50 million severely injured 50% are vulnerable road users 80% of fatalities occur in middle income countries Huge human and economic costs Source: WHO Global Status Report, 2013

3 3 Population, road deaths and motorised vehicles in High, Middle and Low Income countries Source: WHO

4 4 Road safety in OECD countries Road fatalities Spain Denmark Portugal Ireland Slovenia Norway France Germany Sweden Czech Republic Japan United Kingdom Greece p Hungary Italy Korea Austria Poland p New Zealand Australia p Canada p United States p Chile % -0.8

5 5 Policy context for success of the past decade 1. Political awareness E.g.. President Chirac (France) in July 2002 ; Spain 2. Adoption of safe system approach principles «Towards zero» progressively become the standard Sweden and NL were pioneers 3. Adoption of road safety targets EU -50% targets National targets 4. Regular monitoring 5. Road safety action plans

6 Ingredients for success reported by countries 6 Active and passive safety of vehicles Passenger protection (EuroNCAP) Electronic Stability Control Safer infrastructure Expansion of motorway network Median barriers Speed management Automatic speed cameras Section control Young drivers Graduated licensing Legislation Demerit point systems Random breath testing Lower BAC (Blood Alcohol Concentration) level for young and professional drivers

7 7 What has been the impact of the economic crisis? Main conclusions from research work by Rune Elvik for IRTAD The recession after 2008 has made a major contribution to the reduction in fatalities in many countries in recent years Economic recession is associated with: Less growth in traffic Reduction in the exposure of high risk groups (unemployment tends to be higher among young people than people in other age groups) More cautious road user behaviour, such as less drinking and driving, lower speed, fewer holiday trips on unfamiliar roads, etc. Change in unemployment rate is the main explanatory variable For the 14 OECD countries included in Elvik s study, the economic recession contributed to 65% of the fatalities reduction; the remainder of the reduction is the continuation of the long term trend

8 8 Economic and social costs of road crashes There is no internationally agreed methodology to assess costs. Cost elements are more or less easy to quantify and may include: Human life Medical costs Loss of productivity Property Damage costs Congestion costs and delay due to crashes Diminished quality of life Legal costs Pain

9 9 Economic and social costs of road crashes 2 main methods : Human capital Willingness to pay Depending on methodology, between 1 and 3% of GDP WB Estimation : USD 100 billion for developing countries But largely under estimated because lack of reliable data on non-fatal crashes

10 Cost of reported road crashes in France (2012) Consequences EUR Billion Percentage (%) Fatalities Injuries Property damage and other costs Total Injuries cost nearly as important as fatalities costs

11 11 Cost of serious injuries could in reality be more important Statistics on medically treated injuries are incomplete Police reported statistics on injuries are incomplete, inaccurate and biased Injuries are misclassified by severity Underreporting (seriousness, transport mode, e.g. bicycle) Long-term, non-medical impacts are not included Brain, extremities, spinal cord injuries Loss of function Psychological impacts, e.g. post-traumatic stress disorder

12 DECADE GLOBAL PLAN Five pillars for a Safe Systems approach Managing road safety Safer Roads & Mobility Safer Vehicles Safer User behaviour Post-crash response

13 13 Safe System ITF report was the first international report to promote Safe System Working Group: 21 governments, World Bank, WHO, FIA Foundation

14 14 Principles of a Safe System Based on a long term vision of non seriously injured Considers safety as an ethical imperative Accommodates human error Seeks to align safety decisions with broader community values economic, human & environmental health, consumer goals Requires fundamental changes in: how stakeholders are encouraged to take action to improve safety how the road environment is managed

Safe System - Human Tolerances to Physical

15 Safe System - Human Tolerances to Physical Forces <30 km/h pedestrians, cyclists (motorcyclists) <50km/h vehicle occupants in side impact crashes <70-80 km/h vehicle occupants in head on crashes Prevent collisions with roadside objects on high speed roads

16 Safe system: Long term vision and robust interim quantitative targets Vision zero deaths Raises level of ambition Stimulates new measures and research Only ethical approach Possible to achieve Zero child cyclists killed in Sweden in 2008, 1 child pedestrian Interim Targets based on Policies adopted Modelled results of measures to be taken Such evidence-based targets are needed to make UN target 50% improvement happen

17 17 Safe system: implement proven interventions Speeding Drink Driving Still have the pontential to reduce fatalities by 50% Seatbelt wearing And also: infrastructure, safer vehicles, emergency services Emerging issues include: distracted driving Motorcycle safety drugs Pedestrians and cycling safety (promotion of soft modes)

18 18 Implementation of a safe system approach A new working group at ITF will start this year to review the processes for implementing a safe system, at different levels of a jurisdiction; assess the expected effect of a safe system on RS performance; identify barriers for implementation; provide guidelines for policy makers to implement a safe system

19 19 Some impacts from introduction of ITS In recent years, stagnation of safety indices in the best performing countries, suggesting exhaustion of current approaches ITS could provide important boost E-call for post-crash Embedded systems for monitoring driver action, with alerts or even inhibition of hazardous actions Threshold for e-action possibly depending on real time diagnostic of driver distraction / fatigue / nervousness / consistency (intoxication induced) Smarter detection of pedestrians and cyclists Equipment sophistication connected to vehicle price, but insurance incentives could accelerate penetration Condition of e-safety systems should be part of regular roadworthiness tests

20 20 Concluding Remarks Better road safety contributes to sustainable economic development Major progress achieved in OECD countries over the past decade. This is the result of determined road safety policies. The economic recession also had a significant impact in some countries. The UN Plan for the Decade of Action is an excellent reference Plan This investment must rely on a solid action plan based on a safe system approach Implement measures that have proven to be effective: speed management, drink driving, seatbelt, and helmet. Must increase our knowledge, especially on serious injuries to get a real understanding of the consequences of road crashes. ITS can provide significant boost by permanently in-vehicle monitoring of driver behaviour and reduce margins for serious error (and associated crashes)

21 Thank you José Viegas T +33 (0) E jose.viegas@oecd.org Postal address 2 rue Andre Pascal Paris Cedex 16

ITF/OECD Working Group Implementation of a Safe System

ITF/OECD Working Group Implementation of a Safe System Véronique Feypell International Transport Forum irap Innovation Workshop 2015, London, 15-16 September ITF/OECD Working Group Implementation of a