APRIL 23, 2007

FIA joins calls for UN conference on road safety

The FIA and the F1 community have joined calls for a United Nations conference on road safety. Every year around 1.2m people die on the roads, 40% of the victims being under the age of 25. This toll is on a par with some of the world's worst diseases but little has been done at international level to improve the situation by increasing awareness of the problem and promoting road safety with the use of safety belts and helmets, better road design and stronger action against speeding and drink-driving. This week has been designated Global Road Safety Week by the United Nations.

The campaign aims to get the UN to organise the first ever UN ministerial conference to tackle the problem.

The impetus for this has come from the Sultanate of Oman which in April 2004 proposed that the UN General Assembly adopt a resolution to draw attention to road safety. A year later Oman proposed the resolution to establish the first United Nations Global Road Safety Week.