The World Health Organization (WHO) welcomes the political declaration to be adopted by Member States during the High-level Meeting of the UN General Assembly on Global Road Safety. It commits to cut road traffic deaths and injuries by 50% by 2030, a milestone for road safety and sustainable mobility.

The meeting takes place on 30 June – 1 July 2022 under the theme “The 2030 horizon for road safety: securing a decade of action and delivery”.

Road safety affects everyone. We step from our homes every day onto roads that take us to our jobs, schools and to meet our vital daily needs. Yet our transport systems remain far too dangerous. No death should be acceptable on our roads. The future of mobility should promote health and well-being, protect the environment and benefit all,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO. “It will require transformative leadership from the highest levels of government to act on the Political Declaration to make that vision a reality.”

Worldwide, road crashes currently kill around 1.3 million people each year – more than 2 every minute, and more than 90% occur in low- and middle-income countries. Crashes are the biggest killer of children and young people globally. More than 50 million people have died on the world’s roads since the invention of the automobile, more than the number of deaths in the First World War or in some of the worst global epidemics.