In 2011, the United Nations made road safety a global priority by announcing a decade of actions to stabilize the number of road accident victims (1.25 million a year according to the WHO). Over the same period, the world’s population increased by 4% and the number of motorized vehicles on the roads by 16%. Nevertheless, this first step is a long way from the target of halving the number of victims by 2020.
Michelin’s first action in favour of road safety is to offer increasingly performing tyres to protect drivers more nut the company is also involved in many prevention and awareness campaigns all around the world.
Because of technological advances, vehicles are increasingly safer and will become even more so. The United Nations World Forum to standardize vehicle regulations focuses on changes which should be incorporated into standards in the near future: better protection of occupants in the case of side or front impact, improved safety belts and compliance with child safety seats using the ISOFIX standard, and the use of less rigid bumpers to protect pedestrians in the event of a collision.
The focus is also on devices that can help avoid certain accidents like electronic stability control (ESC) to reduce skidding and anti-lock brakes (ABS) on motorbikes. Unfortunately, in 80% of countries vehicles do not meet these safety standards.
Tyre quality plays a part in vehicle safety. By designing tyres that retain a high standard of performance from the first to the last mile up to the legal limit of use, Michelin is helping to reinforce road safety for all users.
But road safety also means the roads themselves. The road network is an essential concern. It requires high quality, well-maintained surfacing, clear road markings, clear signposting and directions and resources that reinforce road safety and reduce speed (roundabouts, barriers, etc.). The road network also involves the protection of vulnerable users: pedestrians, cyclists and two-wheelers in general. By creating separating spaces like cycle paths, we are effectively improving road safety.
Today, the quality of our roads is for the most part the responsibility of local government. This was not always the case. In the car industry’s early days when it was necessary to “socialize” the road to ensure different users could cohabit the available space, Michelin took a few initiatives.
In 1910, they distributed 30,000 signs to local government to encourage drivers to slow down when driving through towns and villages. In 1912, a petition by Michelin initiated the numbering of French roads. In 1920, they designed our first mile marker and 35 years later, 140,000 Michelin markers on corners and poles could be found all over France, serving as landmarks to generations of drivers.
Wherever road legislation is reinforced, mortality rates fall. The most effective measures are well-known: strict speed limits, particularly in urban areas; strict drug- and drink-driving checks; mandatory safety equipment like safety belts, helmets, child safety seats and, finally, no distractions while driving, in particular the use of a phone.
