Resolution adopted by the General Assembly

[without reference to a Main Committee (A/62/L.43 and Add.1)]

62/244. Improving global road safety

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolutions 57/309 of 22 May 2003, 58/9 of 5 November 2003, 58/289 of 14 April 2004 and 60/5 of 26 October 2005 on improving global road safety,

Having considered the note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report on improving global road safety,1

Noting with appreciation the adoption on 23 May 2007 of World Health Assembly resolution 60.22 on emergency care systems,2

Underlining the importance for Member States to continue using the World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention as a framework for road safety efforts and implementing its recommendations by paying particular attention to five of the main risk factors identified, namely, the non-use of safety belts and child restraints, the non-use of helmets, drinking and driving, inappropriate and excessive speed and the lack of appropriate infrastructure, and by paying particular attention also to the needs of vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, and users of public transport, and improving post-crash care for victims of road crashes,

Commending the World Health Organization for its role in implementing the mandate conferred upon it by the General Assembly to work with the United Nations regional commissions to coordinate road safety issues within the United Nations system, and the progress of the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration as a coordination mechanism whose members are providing Governments and civil society with good-practice guidelines to support action to tackle the major road safety risk factors,

Recognizing the work of the United Nations regional commissions and their subsidiary bodies in increasing their road safety activities and advocating for increased political commitment to road safety, and in this context also recognizingthe continuing commitment of the Economic Commission for Europe to global action in the elaboration of safety-related global technical vehicle regulations and amendments to the Convention on Road Traffic3 and the Convention on Road Signs and Signals4, resolution 63/9 of 23 May 2007 of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific5, in which the Commission encouraged members to continue to act upon recommendations contained in the Ministerial Declaration on Improving Road Safety in Asia and the Pacific6, the Accra Declaration of African Ministers responsible for transport and health of 8 February 2007, the Declaration of San José on road safety of 14 September 2006 and resolution 279 (XXIV) of 11 May 2006 of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia on follow-up to implementation of components of the Integrated Transport System in the Arab Mashreq, including follow-up on road safety,7

Commending the World Bank for its initiative in establishing the Global Road Safety Facility, the first funding mechanism designed to support capacity-building and provide technical support for road safety at the global, regional and country levels, welcoming the financial assistance given to the Facility by the Governments of Australia, the Netherlands and Sweden, and by the FIA Foundation for the Automobile and Society, and encouraging more financial contributions to the Facility,

Commending also the World Health Organization and the United Nations regional commissions for organizing, in collaboration with the other members of the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration, the first United Nations Global Road Safety Week in April 2007, during which hundreds of events were held all over the world, including the World Youth Assembly for Road Safety and the second Stakeholders’ Forum for Global Road Safety, in Geneva, which helped to draw attention to the fact that road traffic crashes have become the leading cause of death among young people aged between 10 and 24,

Taking note of all national and regional initiatives to improve awareness of road safety issues, including the second European Road Safety Day, to be observed on 13 October 2008,

Also taking note of the report of the Commission for Global Road Safety, Make Roads Safe: A New Priority for Sustainable Development, which links road safety with sustainable development and which calls for increased resources for road safety, a new commitment for road infrastructure assessment and a global ministerial conference on road safety under the auspices of the United Nations,

Expressing its concern at the continued increase in road traffic fatalities and injuries worldwide, in particular in developing countries,

Reaffirming the need for the further strengthening of international cooperation and knowledge-sharing in road safety, taking into account the needs of developing countries,

Invites Member States to actively participate in the development of the global road safety status report being prepared by the World Health Organization;
Invites all Member States to participate in the projects to be implemented by the United Nations regional commissions to assist low- and middle-income countries in setting their own national road traffic casualty reduction targets, as well as regional targets;
Reaffirms the importance of addressing global road safety issues and the need for the further strengthening of international cooperation, taking into account the needs of developing countries by building capacities in the field of road safety and providing financial and technical support for their efforts;
Encourages Member States to continue to strengthen their commitment to road safety, including by observing the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims on the third Sunday of November every year;
Invites the World Health Organization and the United Nations regional commissions, in cooperation with other partners in the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration, to promote multisectoral collaboration by organizing, when appropriate, United Nations Global Road Safety Weeks, including Stakeholders’ Forums for Global Road Safety;
Encourages organizations in both the private and the public sector with vehicle fleets, including agencies of the United Nations system, to develop and implement policies and practices that will reduce crash risks for vehicle occupants and other road users;
Welcomes the offer by the Government of the Russian Federation to host and provide the necessary financial support for the first global high-level (ministerial) conference on road safety, to be held in 2009, to bring together delegations of ministers and representatives dealing with transport, health, education, safety and related traffic law enforcement issues, to discuss progress in implementing the recommendations of the World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention and the General Assembly resolutions on improving global road safety, and provide an opportunity for Member States to exchange information and best practices;
Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its sixty-fourth session the item entitled “Global road safety crisis”, and requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at that session on the progress made in improving global road safety.

87th plenary meeting
31 March 2008

А/62/257
See World Health Organization, Sixtieth World Health Assembly, Geneva,14–23 May 2007, Resolutions and Decisions, Annexes (WHA60/2007/REC/1).
United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1042, No. 15705.
Ibid., vol. 1091, No. 16743.
See OfficialRecordsoftheEconomicandSocialCouncil,SupplementNo.19(E/2007/39), chap. IV,
E/ESCAP/63/13, chap. IV.
See OfficialRecordsoftheEconomicandSocialCouncil,SupplementNo.21(E/2006/41), chap. I.