‘We are able to do higher’ for pedestrian and bicycle owner security worldwide — World Points

These are the precise type of city initiatives which the UN World Highway Security Week – kicking off on Monday – goals to have fun and promote.

First established in 2007, this yr’s week is devoted to the theme “Make strolling and biking secure.”

“Strolling and biking ought to be probably the most atypical, and due to this fact, the most secure mode of transport,” mentioned Dr. Etienne Krug, who chairs the group often known as the UN Highway Security Collaboration and directs the World Well being Group’s efforts to sort out social and financial situations which affect human well being.

Stats inform a narrative

In September 2020, the UN Normal Meeting handed a decision which established the Decade of Motion for Highway Security 2021-2030 and set a purpose to scale back highway site visitors deaths by at the very least 50 p.c by the tip of the last decade.

Whereas progress has been made, WHO says that extra motion is required throughout all coverage sectors.

Every year, 1.2 million individuals are killed in highway site visitors incidents, with pedestrians and cyclists accounting for over one-quarter of those deaths. These deaths aren’t distributed equally world wide. Fairly, 90 per cent of highway site visitors deaths happen in low- and middle-income international locations.

Furthermore, the UN estimates that at the very least 90 per cent of the world’s roads don’t meet pedestrian security requirements and solely 0.2 per cent of roads have devoted cycle lanes, leaving pedestrians and bikers dangerously uncovered.

A holistic method

Bettering pedestrian and bicycle owner security has far-reaching advantages for communities, by way of well being, financial and environmental outcomes.

“Strolling and biking enhance well being and make cities extra sustainable. Each step and each experience [helps] to chop congestion, air air pollution and illness,” mentioned Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-Normal.

Take, for instance, Fortaleza in Brazil – the five-fold enlargement of their biking community led to a 109 per cent improve in pedestrian exercise and made kids twice as more likely to play outdoors within the areas that had been redesigned.

In Norway, the Fyllingsdalstunnelen tunnel which is embellished with murals and guarded by safety cameras works to scale back carbon emissions and encourage strolling and biking.

To assist the continuation of enhancements like these throughout UN Highway Security Week, WHO has supplied policy-makers with a toolkit outlining tangible initiatives which embrace integrating strolling and biking initiatives into different coverage sectors and constructing extra intensive infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists.

“We want [to] and we are able to do higher,” Dr Krug mentioned.