Transport

The United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Road Safety, Jean Todt, will visit Côte d'Ivoire (29 February - 3 March 2024) to support national authorities' road safety initiatives. In particular, the Special Envoy will launch the United Nations Global Campaign for Road Safety, in partnership with JCDecaux, under the motto #MakeASafetyStatement, to raise awareness on life-saving actions. The launch event is organized on 2 and 3 March 2024 in Bouaké with the Ministry of Transport of the Government the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire. 

Every year approximately 1.19 million people die, and 50 million people are left with life-altering injuries. The urgency is clear: road crashes are not just statistics; they are a global epidemic affecting children, young adults, and communities at large. If current trends continue, road crashes are poised to become the 5^th leading cause of death for all age groups by 2030, resulting in an additional 13 million deaths and 500 million injuries.

UN member States took a decisive step towards sustainable low carbon mobility with the adoption on 23 February of the Inland Transport Committee’s (ITC) Strategy on Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Inland Transport. 

In her first visit to Brussels as UNECE Executive Secretary, Tatiana Molcean held strategic discussions this week with European Commissioners for environment and energy, and high-level officials responsible for industrial policy, trade and cooperation with EU acceding, candidate and neighbouring countries. 

Following the adoption last year of a methodology to measure the emissions from braking systems, UNECE’s World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) now turns to tackling emissions from tyres.   

Made from a mixture of natural and synthetic rubber and plastic polymers, including other chemical components, tyres represent a significant source of non-exhaust emissions. 

Special Envoy Jean Todt is visiting Timor-Leste from 7 until 10 February, to meet H.E President José Manuel Ramos-Horta, ministers and representatives of the public and private sector, and civil society, to advocate for the effective implementation of the

UNECE’s Working Party on Automated/Autonomous and Connected Vehicles has adopted the draft of a new regulation that defines provisions for the approval of vehicles with Driver Control Assistance Systems (DCAS) and provides minimum safety requirements for vehicles equipped with the Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS), such as lane keep assist. 

DCAS are a subset of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). While active, DCAS are able to stabilize or manoeuvre the vehicle.  

UNECE’s Working Party on Automated/Autonomous and Connected Vehicles today decided to include motorcycles, scooters and electric bicycles with speed exceeding 25 km/h in the scope of the UN Regulation No. 155 on cyber security and cyber security management. 

Batteries fitted to electric vans will be required to be of high quality and durable over the years thanks to a proposal agreed today by UNECE’s Working Party on Pollution and Energy (GRPE).  

The proposal will now be submitted to the UNECE-hosted World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) for adoption in June 2024.