Session 2: Safer and Healthier Roads for People and the Planet

Описание: Roads are at the heart of one of the most pressing public health challenges of our time. Each year, road traffic crashes claim over 1.2 million lives and injure millions more, disproportionately affecting young people and vulnerable users such as pedestrians and cyclists. At the same time, road transport is a major contributor to urban air pollution, linked to respiratory diseases, cardiovascular illness, and premature deaths. The intersection of safety and public health shows that how we design, manage, and use roads directly shapes the well-being of people and communities.

This session will examine how safer and healthier roads can be achieved through integrated approaches that combine infrastructure planning and design, speed management, and better enforcement and education. It will highlight how investments in safe road systems also yield co-benefits impacting vulnerable groups — children, women, and those in low-income communities — requiring us to rethink where we prioritise investments. By linking road safety and public health, the discussion will underscore the urgent need for a holistic approach that makes roads a driver of wellbeing for both people and the planet.