Mobility was invited to present at a Road Safety Expert Roundtable hosted in Stockholm on 26 September by the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) and Folksam Insurance.
Forty-two participants, including industry leaders such as Volvo, Scania, Pirelli, Honda, AXA Partners, 3M, Greater Than, telematics operators for fleet managers, UN agencies, government agencies, and other international organisations joined the event that explored ways to improve private sector road safety performance measurement.
The Roundtable was organised as large institutional investors are increasingly placing sound road safety as a key performance requirement when considering investment in any private sector organisation. Excellence in road safety performance across the full value chain translates into a greater return on investment, improved staff welfare, enhanced reputation, reduced litigation costs, and, ultimately, greater contributions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals by reducing preventable crash casualties.
The event, facilitated by renowned experts Dr Claes Tingvall and Dr Nhan Tran from the World Health Organization, looked into emerging questions that need to be tackled when it comes to reducing crashes and fatalities on the roads: ‘Is there a fundamental difference between a carbon and a safety footprint?’; ‘Why does human life appear to be lower in priority than sustainability and financial goals?’; ‘What can we learn from the rise of the importance of cyber security and sustainability and how this has become such a high priority?’; ‘How can we translate the technology and capability of modern economies into the challenging environment in developing countries?’.
Ylva Wessén, President and CEO of the Folksam Group, which last June became the sole investor in a unique bond issued by the World Bank that aims to finance sustainable projects in developing countries that also include a focus on road safety, made a strong statement asserting that an increasing number of investors are no longer satisfied with purely financial measures and that they are now looking for investments that can contribute to a more sustainable world. She then called on a clearer structure for reporting traffic safety footprints.
As it offers organisations and companies an efficient solution to measure their safety footprint and report on their traffic safety performance, the presentation of the FIA Road Safety Index was an important moment in the event’s programme.
The FIA Smart Driving Challenge, a global initiative developed by the FIA and Greater Than, was also highlighted as a concrete way to engage drivers all over the world and promote safe and sustainable driving behaviours to build a culture of safety.
Training opportunities via Zoom for Clubs that want to learn more about the FIA Road Safety Index will be promoted next week. Interested people can book a seat and request more information at: [email protected]