Alliance Newsletter - April 2020

The current pandemic affects us all. Around the world, NGOs are reevaluating their roles and adapting to new challenges. These are difficult times for many of us. Safe roads remain as relevant and necessary as ever, but we respect that COVID-19 is the primary focus right now.

There are also lessons to be drawn from the current crisis, based in reduced pollution, more pedestrians and cyclists, reduced road deaths, and a strong focus on preventative public health measures. To achieve lasting change, we must see safe roads in the context of the full sustainable-development agenda and combine efforts to achieve common goals. Our Alliance Live Sessions explore some of these issues and ideas. Find out more and sign up for the next session, What COVID-19 is Teaching Us About Sustainable Mobility: Lessons for the Future, BELOW.

ALLIANCE NGOs AND COVID-19 Earlier this month, the Alliance organized a series of online sessions with members to discuss how NGOs are adapting their road safety work during the COVID-19 pandemic and to agree on a common approach. These calls are leading to a number of initiatives with the aim of supporting and mobilizing the NGO community. The first action was to publish an Alliance statement, expressing our support of WHO and national governments’ COVID-19 responses; recognizing that, although road safety remains critical, now is not the time for competing agendas; and calling on activists and experts from other fields to work with us for safer, more sustainable communities. Read the statement HERE. The Alliance is also signatory to a statement issued by UNRSC members in support of the work of WHO. Read it HERE. Find resources from Alliance member NGOs and transportation and other sectors, including WHO Europe’s new guide to moving around during the COVID-19 pandemic, on the Alliance website HERE. Read about our other initiatives HERE.

ALLIANCE LIVE SESSIONS Fewer road fatalities, cleaner air, more pedestrians and cyclists, increased focus on public health systems: the current pandemic presents huge challenges but may also be an opportunity to achieve lasting change for safer streets. To do so, we need to see beyond road safety and connect our cause to other SDGs: climate change, urban planning, cycling, poverty, and public health campaigners share many of our demands but for different benefits.  The Alliance Live Sessions bring in experts from different fields to look at trends, issues, and solutions and how we can work together for common goals. The next session, What COVID-19 is Teaching Us About Sustainable Mobility: Lessons for the Future, will be held on Monday 27 April 2020 at 3pm CEST/9am EDT. Find out more and sign up HERE. Read more about the first Alliance Live Session held earlier this week BELOW.

COVID-19, SAFER ROADS, AND URBAN PLANNING Earlier this week, Alliance member Parachute facilitated the first Alliance Live Session featuring Jennifer Keesmaat, former Toronto Chief City Planner, and Oliver Moore, Urban Affairs Reporter for Canadian national newspaper, the Globe and Mail.  The panelists discussed the choice that communities will face after the pandemic: to return to the old normal or to choose to implement the pandemic’s lessons to maintain the benefits of reduced traffic and increased pedestrians and cyclist numbers. They highlighted the danger of a backlash toward population density and public transport and why these factors are essential for safe and sustainable cities. Read more and find the recording HERE.

SPEED KILLS, EVEN IN A LOCKDOWN While road deaths in many countries are reported to have dropped due to reduced road traffic, NGOs, communities, and police are reporting an increase in excessive speeding as a result of quieter roads in locked-down areas or the rush to beat curfews in others. This is a worrying trend when emergency services, including the police, are stretched and more people are travelling by foot and bicycle. Read about the London Metropolitan Police Force’s approach to tackling excessive speed during the lock down and how it engage the community, NGOs, and other partners in our interview with Detective Superintendent Andy Cox HERE. Read insights from the International Federation of Pedestrians (IFP), Families for Safer Streets, and 20’s Plenty for Us on how cities around the world are promoting safer roads for pedestrians and cyclists HERE. Mario Alves, Secretary General of IFP, will be the host for the next Alliance Live Session on mobility on Monday 27 April. Find out more HERE.

TAKING ROAD SAFETY TO GAMERS IN LOCKDOWN Large sporting events are another casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some, including motorsports are adapting by moving races online. Alliance member Asociación Civil Madres del Dolor has seized the opportunity to bring vital road safety messages to a new audience by partnering with TC2000, one of the most popular motor sport series in Argentina. During online races viewed on YouTube 35,000 people, Madres del Dolor’s messages can be seen: “On the street, don’t race. Your family is waiting for you.” Read more HERE.

FIRST VIRTUAL UNRSC MEETING The UN Road Safety Collaboration (UNRSC) was due to hold its April meeting in New York, back-to-back with a UN General Assembly meeting where Member States were expected to ratify the 2030 extension to SDG target 3.6 to reduce road deaths and serious injuries by 50%. Sadly, lockdowns around the world mean that the UN General Assembly session has been postponed to an undecided date, and the UNRSC was held virtually for the first time. Nonetheless, the success of the Third Global Ministerial Meeting was noted, and there was strong support for a relaunching of the Stockholm Declaration when the pandemic response eases. UNRSC members also agreed upon a statement in support of WHO, following the announcement that the US would cut its funding. Read the statement HERE.