New York, June 30 – The UN General Assembly has adopted a political declaration committing member states to set up policies that will halve the annual number of 1.3 million people killed and 50 million who suffered critical injuries in road traffic accidents by 2030.

The UN said road traffic accidents have become a major mortality cause for people aged 5 to 29 and developing countries are losing 2 to 5 per cent of GDP every year to those accidents.

The 193-nation assembly adopted by consensus the declaration following a high-level debate on global road safety, calling on countries worldwide to set up “national targets to reduce fatalities and serious injuries for all road users with special attention given to the safety needs of those road users who are the most vulnerable to road-related crashes.”

Abdulla Shahid, President of the 76th assembly session, said the global plan is “key to reducing deaths and boosting development” and it makes “the best use of our investments in safe transport systems, and aims to halve preventable deaths by 2030.”

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in an address to the assembly that road fatalities are “closely linked to poor infrastructure, unplanned urbanization, lax social protection and health care systems, limited road safety literacy, and persistent inequalities both within and between countries. At the same time, unsafe roads are a key obstacle to development.”

“Traffic accidents can push entire families into poverty through either the loss of a breadwinner or the costs associated with lost income and prolonged medical care.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) called the political declaration a milestone in efforts to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries.

“Road safety affects everyone. We step from our homes every day onto roads that take us to our jobs, schools and to meet our vital daily needs. Yet our transport systems remain far too dangerous. No death should be acceptable on our roads. The future of mobility should promote health and well-being, protect the environment and benefit all,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO. “It will require transformative leadership from the highest levels of government to act on the Political Declaration to make that vision a reality.”

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