With 90 per cent of road-related injuries and fatalities occurring in developing countries, it is “absolutely essential” for those countries to put road safety on top of their agenda.

That’s the message from the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, Jean Todt.

A recent bus accident in western Kenya that killed more than 50 people and a fatal limousine crash in the United States that claimed 20 lives – both passengers and pedestrians among them – illustrate the vital importance of road safety everywhere. So crucial is the issue that it is included under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 – concerning sustainable cities and communities.

During the SDG High-Level Political Forum that took place at UN Headquarters in New York earlier this year, Mr. Todt explained to Florence Westergard of UN News just how important road safety is to global development and what can be done to improve it.