MARÍA DE VILLOTA. FIA WOMEN IN MOTORSPORT AMBASSADOR, MET WITH JEAN TODT YESTERDAY TO PLEDGE HER SUPPORT FOR THE FEDERATION’S ACTION FOR ROAD SAFETY CAMPAIGN
18.04.13.- FIA Women in Motorsport Ambassador María de Villota met with Jean Todt yesterday to pledge her support for the Federation’s Action for Road Safety campaign.
De Villota, who also took part in the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission meeting, conveyed her endorsement of the Federation’s initiative to the FIA President. She also expressed her concern about the growing global road safety crisis that is fast becoming an international pandemic.
The FIA Women in Motorsport Commission’s members and Ambassadors discussed the importance of improving education and awareness of road safety during their meeting. The delegation stressed the need for a determined and collaborative international effort to tackle road accidents, which currently result in 1.3 million deaths and 50 million injuries annually.
The FIA Action for Road Safety campaign will work collaboratively with the Women in Motorsport Commission and its Ambassadors on a series of special projects to raise awareness of safer road use via targeted events around the globe.
FIA Action for Road Safety
The FIA’s Action for Road Safety is a global campaign, focusing the federation’s resources on helping it’s member organisations around the globe to educate and advocate for safer roads, vehicles and behaviours.
Each year, 1.3 million people are killed on roads and another 50 million are injured, some of them very seriously. The FIA’s Action for Road Safety campaign aims to assist the United Nations in reaching the goal of saving five million lives on the world’s roads in 10 years.
In support of the campaign eight-time WRC Champion Sébastien Loeb said “I support this campaign and other road safety initiatives: road crashes kill on the same scale as malaria, and it is important for long term action at the highest level in order to make roads safe.”
Rubens Barrichello, F1’s most experienced driver and incumbent chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers Association said:
“The number of people killed and injured on the roads every year is a cause of great concern and I wholeheartedly support the FIA’s Action for Road Safety campaign. By raising awareness of the dangers that exist on the road, improving driver education and providing better training, we can dramatically reduce the frequency of accidents, the tragedy of which is compounded by the disproportionate number of children and young adults involved in them. Speaking as a racing driver but more pertinently as a father, this crisis is something that we all are obliged to help solve.”
Yvan Muller, three-time WTCC champion : “The experience of racing drivers can be useful in reducing the number of deadly accidents.”
To see how you can become involved in the campaign visit: www.actionforroadsafety.org
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Text and photograph: FIA-Servicio de Prensa de María de Villota.
