UN DECADE OF ACTION FOR ROAD SAFETY

That this House endorses the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety which is aimed at halving the projected increase in road deaths worldwide by 2020 and saving an estimated five million lives; notes the Commission for Global Road Safety's estimate that 1.3 million people will die on the world's roads in 2010 with about 40 times as many seriously injured; recognises that some 90 per cent. of such deaths and injuries will occur in developing countries in many of which death by traffic is a bigger killer than malaria or tuberculosis; deplores the human costs of preventable road carnage which far outweigh the impact of terrorism and regrets the economic costs and service pressures which it brings for many poor countries, estimated at between one and three per cent. of gross domestic product a year; supports the Decade of Action's call for government leadership and meaningful targets in respect of drink-driving, speed, seatbelt and safety helmet use, safer road design and planning, traffic management and vehicle regulation; calls for international donors to support a $300 million action plan from the Make Roads Safe campaign; and welcomes Bloomberg Philanthropies' $125 million contribution towards such a plan.