UN Global Road Safety Week 12-18 May: focus on walking and cycling

Walking and cycling are an integral part of the multimodal transport systems advocated in the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2020-2030

The 8th UN Global Road Safety Week will be held from 12-18 May 2025. It aims to mobilise advocates and communities to demand safer streets for walking and cycling and calls on policy makers to implement proven interventions to achieve it. 

UN Global Road Safety Week offers an opportunity to spur action at national and local levels to make walking and cycling safe, by highlighting concrete and specific interventions that can be taken by different stakeholders – governments, international agencies, civil society, businesses and schools.

These actions will help promote and facilitate a shift to walking and cycling, which are more healthy, green, sustainable and economically advantageous modes of transport. This will also contribute, directly and indirectly, to the attainment of many Sustainable Development Goals.

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On 15 May, during the 8th UN Global Road Safety Week, hear from the UK's Vision Zero, Safe Systems, 20's Plenty, behavioural science, active travel and road danger reduction pioneers at the National Vision Zero & 20's Plenty Conference in Liverpool

Key active travel messages from the UN

• When walking and cycling are safe, these modes of transport can contribute to making people healthy, cities sustainable, and societies equitable.

• Pedestrians and cyclists make up more than one quarter of all road traffic deaths. 

• Proven evidence-based measures must be taken to make walking and cycling safe. It mentions:

• safe road design: dedicated walking and cycling lanes, sidewalks, crosswalks, and roadway lighting; 

• safe vehicles: emergency braking systems, electronic stability control, in-vehicle technology systems that detect pedestrians and cyclists and crash-protective vehicle fronts;  

• safe speeds: speed limits set at maximum 30 km/h (20 mph) in cities and strong enforcement of these limits; 

• safe behaviours: as drivers, avoiding speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and distracted driving, and comprehensive laws and law enforcement around these behaviours; and timely, lifesaving emergency care.

• Promoting and supporting policies on walking and cycling is cost-effective. 

Road traffic injuries are a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, with nearly 1.2 million people killed and as many as 50 million people injured each year. They are the leading killer of young people aged 5-29 years. Globally, more than 1 of every 4 deaths occur among pedestrians and cyclists.

Back in February 2025, leaders from around 50 countries made new national commitments to advance road safety at the Fourth Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety that was hosted by the Kingdom of Morocco and the World Health Organization (WHO) in Marrakech, Morocco.

Ministers from 100 countries endorsed the Marrakech Declaration that calls on governments to make road safety a political priority, ensure sustained funding and advance actions to achieve the goal of halving road deaths by 2030 as set out in the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals. 

The Marrakech Declaration emphasises several points related to safer road infrastructure:

• Safe System Approach: The declaration advocates for a “Safe System” approach to road infrastructure, which prioritizes safety in the planning, design, construction, and maintenance phases of both urban and rural roads.

• Speed Management: It calls for setting safe speed limits, supported by measures like redesigning road infrastructure to encourage self-enforcing speed limits.

• Multi-modal Transport: The declaration promotes policies that enable multi-modal transport and active mobility, including safe pedestrian and cycling infrastructure.

• International Standards: It notes the importance of aligning national road infrastructure standards with international standards.

• Investment and Prioritization: The document encourages prioritizing evidence-based interventions and investments in road safety, including post-crash care and infrastructure improvements, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

• Local Authority Empowerment: It stresses the importance of allocating authority and resources to local authorities for implementing road safety improvements, as many decisions about urban planning and speed limits are made at the local level.

• Technology and Data: The declaration discusses the need to monitor the impact of evolving technologies on road safety and to strengthen the collection of data on road safety performance indicators.