WHO's Safe System lens for new advisory group
A new Global Technical Working Group has been established by the World Health Organization to develop road safety legal guidance reflecting current real-world environments and practice.
The new group has 17 members representing all six WHO regions, with 11 drawn from low- and middle-income countries. WHO has chosen them, it says, for their varying expertise in areas including the safe system approach to road safety, transport policy, road safety law, infrastructure, public health and influencing road user behaviours.
The group’s work is intended to shift WHO’s formal guidance to its member countries from a traditional focus on legislative criteria toward a holistic safe system approach. This means addressing vehicle speeds through infrastructure and road design, not just speed limits, and addressing motorcycle safety through system design, rather than only focusing on helmet wearing.
The guidance will cover three critical areas: distracted driving, including mobile phone use while driving and emerging vehicle technologies; speed management and road infrastructure; and motorcycle and other powered two- and three-wheeler safety. The aim is to provide a comprehensive legislative framework spanning infrastructure, vehicle standards, road user behaviour, post-crash response and governance. The work will be guided by the George Institute for Global Health and will include a large-scale stakeholder consultation with WHO Member States, including at least four in-person regional events, with the guidance published by late next year.
"The laws we have are crucial, but we must keep pace with the changing realities on the world’s roads. This new group will help create guidance that is grounded in evidence, shaped by the realities of today’s transport systems and is rooted in approaches that we know save lives," said Dr Nhan Tran, Head, Violence and Injury Prevention at WHO.