Best practices from all over the world for improving road safety can also be applied successfully in China.
Over 1,000 visitors spent three days following the extensive agenda of the “First International Transportation Safety Expo,” which made its successful debut in Beijing. The trade fair was organized by the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) and the Ministry of Transport of the People’s Republic of China. The main theme of the expo was the question of whether road safety in China can be increased further. Major progress has already been made in this area in recent years. As Sun Huashan from SAWS stated at the start of the expo, the number of the severest category of road accidents with over ten fatalities each fell from 55 to 11 between 2004 and 2016. “In all infrastructure measures that we plan, road safety must be the top priority,” stressed Vice Minister of Transport Liu Xiaoming.
At the expo, around 40 organizations and companies from all over the world presented promising technologies, measures and services for improving road safety. The expert organization DEKRA was also present at the trade fair with a stand, Gulliver vehicles outside and a road safety course for children.
In addition, DEKRA presented a road safety report prepared in collaboration with the National Center for International Cooperation in Work Safety (NCICS) of SAWS, and the Jiaotong International Cooperation Service Center (JICSC), which contains proven measures from around the world and their potential transferability to the challenges facing China. “In view of a death toll of around 1.25 million people each year, road safety is a global challenge,” said Clemens Klinke, member of the DEKRA SE Management Board and in charge of the Automotive business unit, at the presentation of the report. Therefore, everyone involved must pull together to counter the problem efficiently and make a lasting difference, he added.