Together For Safer Roads Announces Fleet Trucking Global Safety Standards Initiative In Advance of UN Global Road Safety Week

 “We know from fleet trucking experts that there are no universally shared industry standards for these safety instruments. Our goal is to change that.”

Together for Safer Roads (TSR), the leading NGO focused on building cross-sector partnerships to improve fleet trucking safety around the world, announces the launch of the Fleet Trucking Global Safety Standards Initiative. The global undertaking, which will develop a set of shared fleet trucking safety standards and has the potential to save tens of thousands of lives over the next several decades, launches just before the 7th Annual  UN Global Road Safety Week gets underway. 

“Together for Safer Roads applauds the United Nations and World Health Organization’s efforts to promote road safety and their goal to reduce road deaths and injuries by half of their current rates by 2030 – and eventually reach Vision Zero, the elimination of all traffic fatalities and severe injuries,” said Peter Goldwasser, Executive Director of Together for Safer Roads. 

“In line with these goals, TSR is launching this exciting new initiative to establish industry standards for fundamental safety instruments, which will ultimately result in a comprehensive suite of recommended standards for a broad cross-section of critical safety instruments and technologies. These will include telematics, pedestrian detection systems, automatic braking, airbags, side curtain airbags, side view mirrors, seatbelts, and others. We know from fleet trucking experts that there are no universally shared industry standards for these safety instruments. Our goal is to change that.”

“Together for Safer Roads is proud to stand with the UN Road Safety Collaboration, and all our fellow road safety advocates in this decade of action for safer roads,” said Andres Peñate, Together for Safer Roads Board Chair and Global VP Corporate Affairs at Anheuser-Busch InBev. ‘We look forward to presenting our new global safety standards concepts to this body in the future, and to ongoing work with the governments of UN member states as we work toward Vision Zero .”

“Embracing the idea, and requirements, of universal safety-based technologies for fleet trucks, it translates to more equitable deployment of safer trucks, as they hit the secondary resale markets and beyond,” said Cormac Gilligan, Together for Safer Roads Board Member and Global Head, Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) at UPS.  “They will have the chance to purchase trucks that meet the standards of the largest global fleet operators without prohibitively expensive retrofitting costs.” 

TSR has a longstanding commitment to this work on a global scale. For example, after implementing TSR’s recommended Vision Zero strategies, the state of São Paulo experienced a 13% reduction in road fatalities across 64 towns and cities, and Shanghai municipality saw an astounding 90% reduction in intervening road fatalities. TSR recently launched a Truck of the Future pilot program with vehicles from the City of New York that identifies and tests innovative and cost-effective solutions to eliminate collisions between large vehicle operators and vulnerable road users; later this year this pilot will expand internationally, working with a private sector fleet in Mexico City. 

“The new Fleet Trucking Global Safety Standards Initiative aligns directly with the UN’s Vision Zero goals, and should be supported by fleet truck operators around the world,” said Richard Kent, TSR Board Member and President of Global Sales at VisionTrack. “We invite businesses, governments and organizations around the world to join us in this important work.” 

“On any given day, we have nearly 16,000 trucks on the road, and safety remains a top concern. Republic Services is thrilled to support the Fleet Trucking Global Safety Standards Initiative to bring better information and shared standards to all fleet trucking in the U.S. and globally,” said Jim Olson, Together for Safer Roads Board Member and VP of Safety at Republic Services Inc. “This effort will help all fleet truck companies better serve their communities.”

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