UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Road Safety, with the support of Malaysia’s Permanent Mission in Geneva, launches a road safety exhibition in Geneva, spotlighting global action to save lives, from helmet safety to celebrity-backed campaigns, ahead of the 8th UN Road Safety Week.

On 9 May at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, Jean Todt, launched a global road safety exhibition with the support of Malaysia’s Permanent Mission in Geneva. The exhibition aims to raise awareness of road risks and highlight solutions that can save millions of lives.

Aligned with the theme of the 8th UN Road Safety Week, making walking and cycling safe, the exhibition features the “Helmets for Hope” project: 17 UN-standard helmets painted by refugee artists worldwide, in collaboration with Artolution and the Keep Fighting Foundation. Helmets compliant with UN standards can reduce death risk by six times and brain injury risk by 74% (WHO 2021), underscoring the urgent need for their widespread use.

Also showcased are 17 visuals from the #MakeASafetyStatement campaign, supported by JCDecaux and the International Olympic Committee, as well as vehicle safety demonstrations, including battery fire extinguishing and impaired driving simulations. A conversation on safe and sustainable urban mobility, hosted by Belgium’s Permanent Mission, will follow.

The Silent Pandemic on the Road

Road crashes kill 1.19 million people and injure 50 million more each year, making them the leading cause of death for 5 to 29-year-olds (WHO 2021). As Jean Todt notes, “Road crashes are not a fatality.” The exhibition calls for global partnership to help halve road deaths by 2030, in line with the Decade of Action for Road Safety.

Originally published on roadsafetyfund.un.org