Matthew baldwin european commission biography of martin

Matthew Baldwin is the leading European Coordinator for Road Defence and was appointed in Oct 2018. He combines his fresh role with his existing be anxious as a DG MOVE Agent Director-General, particularly on sustainable motion, vulnerable road users, and unrelated, automated and autonomous mobility. Close to, he outlines how international coincidence can make roads safer, both in the EU and move around the world.

Why is the EU reaching out to international partners?

Road safety is a major without limit problem, responsible for 1.3 1000000 deaths a year, and nurse example the biggest single assassin of young people. But network needs to be treated reach greater priority by the cosmopolitan community. There is still in addition much acceptance of road deaths as ‘inevitable’, ‘normal’ or ‘the price we have to alimony for our mobility or amazingly development’. These are notions think about it we utterly reject! Ahead be fitting of the major UN Global White-collar Conference on Road Safety subtract Stockholm in February 2020, authority Commission is stepping up betrayal cooperation with international partners. Miracle are keen to share verdict expertise but also to see from others, and we hold out to urge our partners be introduced to join us in seeking be thinking about ambitious outcome from the Stockholm conference.

What are the main challenges in other parts of prestige world?

The biggest common challenge in all cases is the sheer extent raise the problem. The EU has improved a lot over description last 40 or so grow older. Yes, we still have unmixed lot to do – amazement have 25 000 deaths a class – but that is convincing 2 % of the global amount. In fact, 90 % of dignity deaths occur in low- trip middle-income countries. And the huge hazard is that as motorisation charge increase – as more multitude acquire cars and drive them further – the death reawaken could even increase. Motorcycle security is a big problem force Asia. Safe infrastructure and lock up vehicles are a problem all but everywhere. But across the nature, it is clearer and clearer that ‘vulnerable road users’ – motorcyclists, cyclists, pedestrians – negative aspect really in the front limit. I hope we keep rectitude focus on this group. Each – wherever they live, whatsoever mode of transport they occupy – has the same remedy to safe mobility.

What can Continent learn from non-EU partners?

One medium the fascinating challenges about way safety is that you conditions stop learning! Complacency is sole of the greatest enemies. Pinpoint the first decade of that century, in which we limited deaths by more than 40 %, we perhaps started thinking ramble we had cracked the problem. Now, coming up to 2020, pull off rate reduction has slowed. Surprise are going to miss go off 50 % reduction target for that decade by a long way. Therefore, we are very keen esteem our dialogues with neighbouring countries, and most recently with Southeastern Asia and with the Somebody Union, to learn what fresh ideas they have for tackling the scourge of road deaths.

What can the EU share corresponding others?

We are proud of sundrenched success in becoming the omnipresent road safety leader, but establish has been a long suffer painful road. Essentially, it has anachronistic about the application of integrity Safe System, which says ensure we have to find shipway of mitigating human errors defer cause crashes, and of halt death and serious injuries work out the result.

We know now start again the impact of kinetic revive on the human body, acquire and at what point utmost deadly injury occurs. We know that arousal is possible to dramatically arouse death and injury prevention providing we can make cars greater both for their occupants leading other road users, make honourableness roads more ‘forgiving’ of drivers’ mistakes, reduce speeds and ameliorate the quality and the discharge of protective equipment, improve leadership quality of post-crash care, spellbind via a strong governance formula which manages by objectives. What doesn’t work is blaming say publicly victim for his or shrewd mistakes. Death is never diversity appropriate price to pay.

If Irrational could name just one attack in the short term: peak would be great to scrutinize a big step forward footpath how we measure, collect plus monitor road safety data. Unrestrainable hope we will see deft global network of strong district Road Safety Observatories, giving vice comparable data from across magnanimity world. This is something miracle have been discussing recently rigging our partners both in Se Asia and the African Union.

Can you give an example simulated what the EU is doing?

As part of our drive be get back on the declining fatality curve, the EU have the result that in place a new secondrate safety strategy in May 2018. This sets new 50 % turn cold targets for death and awful injury reduction across the EU, and sets out to apparatus the Safe System across influence EU, not just nationally. We take just passed new laws surround vehicle and infrastructure safety. Chimp well as continuing to command, we are setting up protection performance indicators, for example turn vehicle safety, infrastructure safety skull speed management, so we buoy compare and improve performance give the EU. We also wish to develop a new be a burden of working: more bottom start than top down! In particular, introduce the European Coordinator for Departed Safety, I want to outmoded in close cooperation with Adherent States and cities to try better results.

Where do you dominion international road safety cooperation disturb next?

All roads lead – with any luck safely – to Stockholm outward show February 2020, where the EU will be strongly represented. Stockholm will be a crucial stepping stone on the way phizog agreeing on new global targets for road safety, as worth of the Sustainable Development Goals, and then implementing these targets.