Recently, the VOLVO Group enabled a roundtable discussion on the future of mobility. There is no doubt that our mobility has advanced over the past decades, maybe beyond recognition. Long gone are the days of mobility on for the wealthy in most of the world with most people travelling around in a contemporary society with some ease. However, this advancement in mobility also poses challenges, that of road safety, urban development and is interconnected to a range of social issues.
The VOLVO Group brought together a diverse group of young minds to tackle the issues of urban mobility in a modern world. The discussion took on the panel, bringing road safety to the mobility agenda, YOURS Director Mr Floor Lieshout.
The first topic of discussion focused on youth and road traffic injuries, bringing attention to the primary cause of death for young people; road traffic crashes. This starter discussion presented mobility in a unique perspective. While our future mobility will mean getting around quicker, easier and offering routes of transport for young people; it also has a serious consequence; road deaths. Floor began the discussion by asking the group how we can get young people involved in road safety?
Floor highlighted the importance of a safe road safety system; safe vehicles, safe infrastructure and safe road users. He also stated, ‘Young people are the biggest victims but we can also be part of the solution’.
The discussion continued by mapping ways in which young people can be involved in road safety such as through urban transport planning project alongside engineers to understand their projects. Next, there was a focus on road safety campaigns and the impact of raising road safety awareness. The discussion touched on several areas of road safety offering an interesting insight into youth involvement in road safety.
The discussion can be viewed in the right column.