Private-Sector Global Coalition to Reduce Road Traffic Collisions Launched

Ten leading, global companies have come together to create Together for Safer Roads — an innovative cross-sector coalition focused on improving road safety and reducing deaths and injuries by road traffic collisions. The founding members are: Anheuser-Busch InBev, AIG, AT&T, Chevron, Ericsson, Facebook, IBM, iHeartMedia, PepsiCo and Walmart.

Road traffic crashes are the eighth leading cause of death worldwide and the #1 cause of death among 15 – 29 year olds. The World Health Organization of the United Nations estimates that, absent intervention, this will become the fifth leading cause of death by 2030, surpassing diseases such as HIV/AIDS and diabetes. The tremendous human loss – approximately 3,000 people are killed each day — leads to major economic loss. It is estimated that road traffic collisions cost more than 500 billion USD per year or 1-3 percent of the GDP of the world’s countries.

A primary goal of the coalition is to foster cross-sector collaboration that helps identify and scale best practices on road safety. Members will work with a variety of stakeholders – employees, business, government and community partners – to implement activities that have a proven impact on improving road safety. Together, coalition members employ over 3 million people and operate in 200 countries. Member companies’ fleets of cars, trucks, motorcycles and other vehicles drive at least 3 billion miles (4.8 billion kilometers) each year.

“Road safety is a growing challenge globally — and an even more pressing issue for developing markets like China, where AIG research shows that 40 percent of drivers have been driving for less than three years,” said Steve Miller, the Non-Executive Chairman of AIG and Vice-Chairman of Together for Safer Roads. “By combining our expertise, data-driven insights, technology and networks, we see great potential in our coalition to scale industry best practices and raise awareness of this major global health issue.”

Together for Safer Roads coalition members will be working in three core areas: 1) safer roads, vehicles and systems; 2) safer road users; and 3) advocacy and thought leadership. Future coalition efforts will include: benchmarking best practices that advance traffic safety culture among companies and partners; convening stakeholders in key cities to focus on strategies for reducing fatalities; identifying ways technology and data can support road safety; advocating for more funding and support for country road safety initiatives; and raising overall awareness about this important issue. The coalition will be advised by an Expert Panel of eminent leaders in road safety who will draw together insight and knowledge from the global community. The Panel’s white paper, to be published in 2015, will help guide the activities of Together for Safer Roads.

Source: Together for Safer Roads