Title: The Origins of Uniform Road Signs and Signals and the FIA Foundation’s Commitment To Improving Road Safety Globally
Abstract: This article, from a special issue on road safety, first presents an historical overview of the development of uniform road signs and signals and then outlines the commitment of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) to improving road safety on a global level. The author recognizes the centennial anniversary of a meeting in 1909 when delegates from sixteen countries met in Paris at the invitation of the French government and signed the Convention with Respect to the International Circulation of Motor Vehicles. This 1909 Convention contained articles on driving qualifications, cross border travel, national identification marks, road signs and also introduced the language of ‘type approval’ for safe motor vehicle design. The FIA was created in its modern iteration in 1947, the same year that the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) established its Inland Transport Committee; in 1949, the UN Convention on Road Traffic was adopted in Geneva. The author summarizes the activities of the FIA since then, including the development of international road traffic norms and standards, the support of clean and affordable motoring, vehicle standards, safety-related global technical regulations, the development of regulations regarding electronic stability control, the FIA Foundation for the Automobile and Society, fuel economy, putting road safety issues on the global agenda, road injury prevention programs and conferences, the Make Roads Safe campaign, and road safety in developing nations. The article concludes with a description of the independent Commission for Global Road Safety, a high level group that aims to raise awareness of road safety as a key issue of sustainable development.
Publication Year: 2008
Publication Date: 2008-11-01
Language: en
Type: article
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