Brake, the road safety charity, is inviting fleet operators around the world to join a new global campaign to help tackle road deaths, injuries and poisonous air from vehicles.
Global Fleet Champions is a not-for-profit and partnership campaign that everyone can join to prevent crashes and pollution caused by vehicles used for work purposes.
The latest World Health Organisation report on the global status of road safety revealed that road crashes are the leading killer of children and young adults (aged 5-29 years) globally. The report also found that the total number of deaths from road crashes rose to 1.35 million in 2016, up from 1.25 million in 2013. Many road deaths involve a vehicle being driven for work, and vehicles driven for work also cause extensive pollution.
“Road crashes caused by vehicles used for work purposes are a global catastrophe. Lorries and buses, in particular, are the largest and heaviest vehicles on roads and are involved in some of the most catastrophic and devastating collisions and extensive pollution,” said Mary Williams, Chief Executive at Brake. “The good news is that the safe and sustainable operation of all types of vehicles operated for work reasons can be regulated and enforced by governments, and managed by business leaders through risk management and environmental practices.”
Global Fleet Champions is free to join and calls on organisations that use vehicles for work purposes to prioritise safety and sustainability, through good leadership and by adopting robust policies and procedures to manage driver behaviour, vehicle standards and journey routing. The campaign also calls on governments to regulate and enforce the safe, sustainable operation of vehicles that move goods and people, through licensing and traffic rules, road policing and tougher penalties.
The campaign is underpinned by five pillars that support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Decade of Action for Road Safety and its “safe systems” approach to road safety. These five pillars are driver behaviour; journey routing and modal choice; vehicle procurement and maintenance; incident analysis and intervention; and community outreach.
Campaign members have access to free and low-cost events and a library of resources giving best practice guidance on key topics related to road safety and sustainability.
They can also enter the Global Fleet Champions Awards, which celebrate best practice in safe and healthy mobility for fleets anywhere in the world, including in low- and middle-income nations where occupational road risk management is evolving more slowly than in high-income nations.
