According to UN figures 1.3 million people are killed on the world’s roads each year and unless action is taken now annual road deaths are forecast to rise to 1.9 million by 2020. For this reason the UN has declared 2011-2020 a UN Decade of Action for Road Safety. The goal of the decade endorsed by 100 governments is to “stabilise and then reduce global road fatalities by 2020”.
As part of the Decade of Action plans the eSafety Challenge project (run by eSafety Aware FIA and FIA Foundation with three other partners) is organising a high-level launch event at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 11 May 2011 where Michael Schumacher seven-time Formula 1 World Champion and Jerzy Buzek President of the European Parliament have agreed to attend. eSafety Challenge will support the Decade of Action’s third pillar on safe cars. Twelve other events are planned by FIA Region I clubs across Europe Africa and the Middle East on the same day.
The goal of the eSafety Challenge project funded by the European Commission is to promote the deployment and use of Intelligent Vehicle Systems to enhance road safety in Europe. Policy makers and end-users are often unaware of the impact eSafety technologies can have on saving lives on the road. eSafety technologies like Electronic Stability Control Blind Spot Monitoring Lane Support Systems Speed Alerts Warning and Emergency Braking Systems and Adaptive Headlights have the potential to save lives by tackling the root cause of the most common accidents. It has been estimated that for Electronic Stability Control (ESC) alone4000 lives could be saved in Europe and more than 100000 injuries prevented if fitted to all cars.
Link to original Article
http://www.ertico.com/fia-news-launch-of-united-nations-decade-of-action-for-road-safety/
Original Publication Date: Thu 31 Mar 2011
