The American Trucking Associations and the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance both voiced their commitment to improving safety on U.S. highways as part of the United Nations’ Decade of Action for Road Safety. The Decade of Action program, which launched around the world Wednesday, May 11, aims to reduce the nearly 1.3 million highway-related fatalities and 50 million serious injuries suffered around the world.
That number is projected to increase to 1.9 million by the year 2020. The Decade of Action has a goal of stabilizing and then reducing the level of worldwide road fatalities by bringing more attention to safety at regional, national and global levels.
“The trucking industry stands with the U.N. and countless other groups in our commitment to making our highways safer,” says David Osiecki, ATA senior vice president of policy and regulatory affairs. “Our dedication to safety is a core value at ATA and throughout the trucking industry, and ATA’s support of the U.N.’s campaign is yet another expression of that dedication.”
As part of its Decade of Action, the U.N. has highlighted a five-pillar approach to safety: building management capacity, encouraging safer user behavior, building safer roads, building safer vehicles and improving post-crash care.
“The core of the U.N.’s program fits neatly with ATA’s own progressive safety agenda,” Osiecki says. “Focusing on behaviors we know cause crashes like aggressive or distracted driving, expanding the use of active safety technology and improving the design of trucks are just a part of our safety agenda that can help the U.N. and its partners achieve our shared goal of zero highway fatalities.”
CVSA says it stands in support of the campaign to increase the public’s awareness of the problem and urges all stakeholders to take action to save lives and prevent deaths and injuries.
“CVSA shares the U.N.’s concern that road traffic deaths and injuries have reached epidemic proportions and need to be addressed urgently by all people who use public roads,” says Stephen Keppler, CVSA executive director. “CVSA and its partners work tirelessly to prevent large truck- and bus-related crashes. And while the commercial vehicle industry has made significant progress, clearly much more can be done to see that not one additional life is put at risk. We appreciate the U.N. and World Health Organization for raising the global awareness of this issue.”
The Decade of Action launched Wednesday, May 11, with ceremonies held throughout the world, including New York City and Washington, D.C.
