Inspecting Malaysian roads

Our Make Roads Safe global ambassador has come home to Malaysia after a hectic week in the US. She is here to help launch the results of the Malaysia survey of the International Road Assessment Programme, which estimates that 30% of deaths and serious injuries could be prevented over 20 years if proposed road design improvements improvements are implemented.

The launch was well supported by the Malaysian transport minister and the deputy works minister and, although there are the usual political and bureaucratic hurdles to overcome, there seems to be real hope for a government investment in these recommendations.

Later we toured some of the roads near Kuala Lumpur which could benefit from improvements. IRAP's Asia director, Rob McInerney, pointed out the open ditches, lethal telegraph poles and dangerous junctions that are contributing to Malaysia's death toll of 6000 a year. We also visited the separate motorcycle lanes alongside dual carriageways that have helped to reduce motorcycle deaths along these stretches of road by up to 80%.

Resolution 74 approved by House of Representatives

The US House of Representatives has today unanimously passed Concurrent Resolution 74, supporting the call for a Decade of Action and a 50% cut in predicted global fatalities by 2020. The resolution also calls on the Obama Administration to take a leadership role at the Moscow conference and support the goals of a Decade. Congratulations to Congressman Robert Wexler, the author and sponsor of the resolution, and Chair of the Global Road Safety Caucus in Congress, and to our own campaign director in the US, Bella Dinh Zarr, who has worked tirelessly to promote the issue across Washington D.C.

Decade debate in US House

The US House of Representatives will debate our proposal for a Decade of Action tomorrow (Wed 23 Sept). Concurrent Resolution 74 'supporting the goals and ideals of a decade of action for road safety with a global target to reduce by 50 percent the predicted increase in global road deaths between 2010 and 2020' was sponsored by Democrat Congressman Robert Wexler and is co-sponsored by 45 other representatives from both parties.

Our campaign in the US has mobilised a lot of support behind this, in an effort to engage politicians and raise awareness. We'll update on any developments here.

delegation news - United States

US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has confirmed his participation in the Moscow Ministerial - good to see the US taking the meeting and the issue seriously with a cabinet-level delegation.

delegation news - India

India has confirmed that its Union Minister for Transport and Highways, Kamal Nath, will participate in the Moscow conference. India's Union health minister is also expected to attend.

Today I visited the traffic police in Mumbai. Their motivated and energetic Traffic Police Commissioner, Sanjay Barve, says road fatalities in the city have fallen by half - from around 800 to 400 - in the past few years, mainly as a result of enforcing helmet wearing by motorcycle riders (similar efforts to get pillion riders wearing helmets will also be launched soon). The police have also prioritised promoting and enforcing lane discipline and tackling drink driving. More than 35,000 drivers or riders have been caught drink driving since 2007, with 15,000 of them ending up in prison. 92,000 people were fined for not wearing helmets in just a two month period in the summer of 2008.

It starts with a village

Good article today on road safety in Uganda from the Guardian website, drawing the connection between new/upgraded roads and rising road deaths http://www.guardian.co.uk/katine/2009/sep/08/news-life .

This comes from the Guardian's development project in the village of Katine in Uganda. Supported with funding from the paper's readership, the project has, over the past couple of years, examined in minute detail the impact of aid spending on people's lives. The impact of road development on trade, access to health care and other opportunities has been an important part of this analysis, and questions about road safety have risen up the agenda since a football tournament sponsored by the Guardian in June ended in tragedy http://www.guardian.co.uk/katine/2009/jun/14/football-fan-death-katine-crash . The economic context, and potential dangers, of the new road cutting through Katine is also well explored in this article by John Vidal http://www.guardian.co.uk/katine/2009/apr/09/soroti-lira-juba-road .

The slogan of the Katine project is 'It starts with a village'. Perhaps a wider understanding and visibility for the vital need to build road safety into road development will also start with this village.

Early confirmations

More than 30 countries have already confirmed ministerial participation in the Moscow conference. If your country doesn't appear in the list below, please redouble efforts to make sure you are represented! (It may be that your government has decided on its delegation - these are just the ones we know about).

Azerbaijan; Algeria; Angola; Bangladesh; Cambodia; Cameroon; Costa Rica; Croatia; Cuba; Gambia; Germany; Iraq; Laos; Luxembourg; Mexico; Mozambique; Nigeria; New Zealand; Norway; Oman; Pakistan; Palestine; Poland; Sao Tome and Principe; Qatar; Saudi Arabia; Seychelles; Serbia; Senegal; Sweden; Syria; Tanzania; United Kingdom; Vatican; Vietnam.