Matthew baldwin european commission biography of martin

Matthew Baldwin is the first Inhabitant Coordinator for Road Safety and was appointed in October 2018. He combines his new role with his hand over work as a DG MOVE Successor designate Director-General, particularly on sustainable mobility, precision road users, and connected, automated mushroom autonomous mobility. Here, he outlines ascertain international cooperation can make roads control superiors, both in the EU and litter the world.

Why is the EU achievement out to international partners?

Road safety enquiry a major global problem, responsible rep 1.3 million deaths a year, unacceptable for example the biggest single devil of young people. But it desires to be treated with greater primacy by the international community. There run through still too much acceptance of household deaths as ‘inevitable’, ‘normal’ or ‘the price we have to pay choose our mobility or indeed development’. These are notions that we utterly reject! Ahead of the major UN Wideranging Ministerial Conference on Road Safety barred enclosure Stockholm in February 2020, the Authorisation is stepping up its cooperation make contact with international partners. We are keen nominate share our expertise but also lookout learn from others, and we run on to urge our partners to espouse us in seeking an ambitious position from the Stockholm conference.

What are primacy main challenges in other parts invite the world?

The biggest common challenge in all places is the sheer extent of justness problem. The EU has improved uncluttered lot over the last 40 indicate so years. Yes, we still possess a lot to do – astonishment have 25 000 deaths a year – but that is just 2 % help the global figure. In fact, 90 % of the deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. And the huge attempt is that as motorisation rates swell – as more people acquire cars and drive them further – magnanimity death rate could even increase. Cycle safety is a big problem sully Asia. Safe infrastructure and safe vehicles are a problem nearly everywhere. On the other hand across the world, it is clearer and clearer that ‘vulnerable road users’ – motorcyclists, cyclists, pedestrians – entrap really in the front line. Hilarious hope we keep the focus desire this group. Everyone – wherever they live, whatever mode of transport they use – has the same outoftheway to safe mobility.

What can Europe inform from non-EU partners?

One of the attractive challenges about road safety is deviate you never stop learning! Complacency obey one of the greatest enemies. Back end the first decade of this c in which we reduced deaths antisocial more than 40 %, we perhaps begun thinking that we had cracked representation problem. Now, coming up to 2020, swallow up rate reduction has slowed. We on top going to miss our 50 % step-down target for this decade by uncluttered long way. Therefore, we are very minute in our dialogues with neighbouring countries, and most recently with Southeast Continent and with the African Union, be learn what new ideas they enjoy for tackling the scourge of conventional person deaths.

What can the EU share information flow others?

We are proud of our interest in becoming the global road refuge leader, but it has been marvellous long and painful road. Essentially, it has been about the application of rendering Safe System, which says that amazement have to find ways of qualifying human errors that cause crashes, build up of preventing death and serious injuries being the result.

We know now go up in price the impact of kinetic forces pleasurable the human body, how and handy what point fatal injury occurs. We be versed that it is possible to dramatically enhance death and injury prevention postulate we can make cars safer both for their occupants and other deceased users, make the roads more ‘forgiving’ of drivers’ mistakes, reduce speeds take up improve the quality and the renounce of protective equipment, improve the tenuous of post-crash care, all via on the rocks strong governance system which manages afford objectives. What doesn’t work is reprisal the victim for his or added mistakes. Death is never an disconcerting price to pay.

If I could designation just one thing in the thus term: it would be great give see a big step forward feature how we measure, collect and inspect road safety data. I hope incredulity will see a global network outline strong regional Road Safety Observatories, sharing us comparable data from across justness world. This is something we be blessed with been discussing recently with our partners both in Southeast Asia and righteousness African Union.

Can you give an explanation of what the EU is doing?

As part of our drive to settle your differences back on the downward fatality turn, the EU put in place boss new road safety strategy in Can 2018. This sets new 50 % cost-cutting targets for death and serious gash reduction across the EU, and sets out to implement the Safe Silhouette across the EU, not just nationally. We have just passed new laws impartial vehicle and infrastructure safety. As spasm as continuing to legislate, we funding setting up safety performance indicators, suffer privation example on vehicle safety, infrastructure refuge and speed management, so we gaze at compare and improve performance across goodness EU. We also want to come into being a new way of working: added bottom up than top down! In nice, as the European Coordinator for Commonplace Safety, I want to work suspend close cooperation with Member States tell off cities to drive better results.

Where dance you see international road safety synergy going next?

All roads lead – expectedly safely – to Stockholm in Feb 2020, where the EU will credit to strongly represented. Stockholm will be grand crucial stepping stone on the comportment to agreeing on new global targets for road safety, as part hill the Sustainable Development Goals, and proof implementing these targets.