Road Safety: Innovations for Life

I am really pleased to be here to greet you all on behalf of the UN Family in Montenegro to speak to you about one of my favourite subjects. Thank you for attending this event and helping us to look into new ways of improving road safety along with the brilliant minds of Montenegrin youth.  Before we start, some ‘fast facts”

• Did you know that  - every year globally, nearly 1.2 million people die from road traffic accidents, half of them pedestrians.
• Did you know that - Road accidents are the leading cause of death of young people between 15 and 30.
• Did you know that every 24 seconds someone dies in a road accident which means more than 220 people will die in road accidents around the globe by the end of this conference.

I often wonder why these statistics don’t get as much attention as plane crashes or terrorism.

The seriousness of these figures is the reason road safety is a priority for the United Nations and also the reason the Secretary General nominated UN Decade on Road Safety 2011 – 2020 and appointed racing car driver Jean Todt to lead this effort.

The Decade on Road Safety aims to help countries focus on addressing road safety and particularly in achieving the Secretary General’s target in Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, which asks countries ‘to half global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents by 2030’.

When it comes to Montenegro, the National Road Safety Strategy (Twenty Ten to Twenty nineteen) – set specific, though less ambitious goals, than the Secretary General’s target, to decrease the number of fatalities by 30% and the number of seriously injured by 20%.  And recent figures do show a reduction in deaths and injuries from about 10 persons per hundred thousand, to 7.7 fatalities in 2018. Despite this, Montenegro is still one of the most seriously affected European countries on this issue, with fatalities 50% higher than in the EU countries.

Besides greatest loss a society can have – a loss of people’s lives, road accidents also bring massive economic losses. The World Health Organisation, says the costs of the traffic accidents can be between 3 and 5 percent of GDP globally.  Our studies in UN Montenegro, estimated between 30 and 35 million euro per year. Just imagine if this money was available to spend on safety measures or other public sector priorities.

Safety is the key word in making this happen – that is :

• safer roads (designed and marked to better manage cars),
• safer vehicles (with good brakes and other specifications).  
• safer people (who, for example, use seat belts, and don’t drink or use mobile phones)

Here today, we are also considering how new thinking and innovative solutions might help achieve these outcomes. The UN has partnered with Montenegro’s leaders of innovation – Ministry of Science and Digitalizuj.me, and also young innovators, to look for new solutions to stop people being killed or injured on the roads.

Soon, you’ll be presented with four innovative solutions.  These have been selected through hackathon competitions held all over the country over the last couple of months.

I hope one of these solutions will broaden the options available to address road safety issues. Because – let’s not forget – many of us here today work in capacities where we can influence greater road safety.

And our responsibility can also go beyond official capacities. Our own behaviour on the road matters – do we respect red light, speed over the limit, or drink and then drive. Do we make sure children are strapped into car seats, and watch out for other users of the road.

Setting an example for others on safety can also help reduce deaths and injuries.  Even celebrities are not above the law, I am sure you heard of Britain’s famous footballer, David Beckham, last week he was given a six-month driving ban in the UK for using his mobile phone while driving.

So, in conclusion, and to quote the UN Secretary General – Safer journeys begins with us.

Thank you.