Gadkari leaves for Global Conference on Traffic Safety in Brazil

Conference aims to reaffirm global commitment towards reduction of traffic accidents that cause 1.2 million deaths every year

Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari, will attend the two-day 'Second High Level Global Conference on Traffic Safety – Time of Results' in Brasilia (Brazil) to be held on November 18-19, 2015. The conference is slated to be one of the most important discussions in the world on traffic safety, and aims to reaffirm the international community’s commitment towards reduction of traffic accidents that are responsible for 1.2 million fatalities every  year.

Led by the World Health Organization (WHO), the conference aims to strengthen the commitment of the international community around policies, laws, measures and actions that can halt factors that cause 1.2 million deaths worldwide and physical trauma to another 30 to 50 million people due to traffic accidents every year.

One of the major objectives of the event is to review the progress made by countries in implementing the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, which aims to save five million lives on the planet through the adoption of policies, programs, actions and legislations to increase safety on the roads especially for pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.

The First Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety was held in Russia in 2009. Thereafter, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a resolution for "Improving Global Road Safety", in 2014. The resolution expresses a concern about the fact that only seven per cent of the global population is protected by appropriate traffic laws, which provide mandatory use of helmets, seat belts and protective devices for children in vehicles, prohibition of driving under the influence of alcohol, speed control and prohibition of the use of mobile phones while driving, including sending text messages, which are the five key-factors of risk on transit.