Road crashes silent pandemic: UN Special Envoy for Road Safety

Road crashes are a silent pandemic around the world, and collective efforts are needed to reduce their casualties, United Nations Secretary-Generals Special Envoy for Road Safety, Jean Todt, said on Tuesday. Todt launched the UN-JCDecuax Global Campaign for Road Safety, the MakeASafetyStatement, which features celebrities promoting everyday measures to improve road safety.

Road crashes are a silent pandemic around the world, and collective efforts are needed to reduce their casualties, United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Road Safety, Jean Todt, said on Tuesday. Todt also launched a global awareness campaign to improve road safety. ''Road crashes are a silent pandemic around the world, and in India, they continue to take thousands of lives each year, deeply affecting families and communities across the country. In a nation marked by a rapid growth in mobility, working together to address road safety can help reduce the number of victims on the roads,'' Todt said at a press conference here. The envoy's current visit to India comes 11 months after the Declaration of Marrakesh, in which UN Member States agreed to accelerate efforts to achieve the Second Decade of Action for Road Safety, with the goal of halving the number of road victims by 2030. In India, road crashes remain a major public health concern, claiming an estimated 153,972 lives annually, with a death rate of 15.4 per 100,000. Pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists are particularly vulnerable, accounting for a significant portion of fatalities. Todt launched the UN-JCDecuax Global Campaign for Road Safety, the #MakeASafetyStatement, which features celebrities promoting everyday measures to improve road safety. Under the campaign, digital billboards and posters featuring the statements will be visible in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore, to highlight the importance of having leaders from different fields support road safety. The campaign will also be shared on social media. Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar released a video backing the campaign as he joined the group of celebrities and sporting champions designated as Global Champions for Road Safety.