Prince Michael speeches
Speech by Prince Michael at the Road Safety Awards, 8 Dec 2009
Welcome to you all and congratulations to my award winners.
Fifty years ago the M1 opened, heralding a brand new type of road which from the outset was designed to be safe. Motorways were dual carriageways designed with sweeping curves to help the driver from falling asleep. There was a restriction on the types of vehicles which could use them - no motorcycles under 50cc, no pedestrians and no horses.
It is also fifty years since the first three-point safety belt was fitted, invented by Nils Bohlin - a Volvo engineer, which has already saved over one million lives.
Yet even here in Britain we still have many roads which have not been designed with safety in mind and there are still people not wearing seat belts; indeed in some countries they are not yet even mandatory.
The world has much still to learn about how to make its roads safe so I am delighted to welcome so many of you who dedicate your lives to doing just that. Your innovation and your knowledge has already helped and if your example is followed by others many more crashes will be avoided.
The dedication and energy of the team from the FIA Foundation channelled through the Commission for Global Road Safety and the Make Roads Safe Campaign have led to a declaration for a Decade of Action from the first Global Ministerial Conference on road safety that I attended recently in Moscow. I am delighted to be the patron of the Commission and grateful to the Foundation for its involvement and for its sponsorship of my International Awards. A little later we will see a short film illustrating its work.
In this role during the year I have been able to present my awards in Dar es Salaam and Moscow to deserving winners whose achievements have made a real difference, and today we are here to celebrate with more award winners.
In Africa I was able to make awards to The Fleet Forum for its work with the UN aid agencies agencies to improve the safety of their fleets and to Chevron for the work they are doing on road safety internally and in the community. I was also especially delighted to be able to make an award to Casey Marenge - a 26 year-old road crash victim who now runs a leading East African NGO and who bravely took the stage at the recent Moscow conference.
There, in addition to presenting awards two remarkable Brazilian initiatives: an NGO and a city which had reduced deaths by some forty per cent, I was able to make Special International Awards to recognise the foresight and leadership shown by a number of organisations and individuals whose efforts have marked significant milestones on the road to Moscow over the last five years.
Now we need to commit ourselves to the Decade of Action. You need to spread your knowledge and we all need to encourage governments, NGOs and the private sector to work together with the aim of saving Five Million Lives. This we can do.
There is a lot of talk this week about global warming and the need to try and reduce it. If only as much time and trouble was being taken to improve road safety. Pollution, in my opinion, is not as important a subject because it is not killing 1.3 million people every year.
It is sad that Mr. Paul Clarke, our minister, is unable to be with us as he has parliamentary business to attend to. But I thank him in his absence for the leading role he played in Moscow and for being such a ‘champion’ of our cause since his appointment earlier in the year
I am very glad that Nigel Mansell, my vice patron, is able to be with us too, sitting with a team which has made a breakthrough in young driver training.. As many of you will know, in addition to his presidency of the IAM, he commits much of his time to supporting young people through UK Youth, and through the charity First Gear.
As you know, my Awards are managed by RoadSafe; I would like to thank the board and advisory panel (who had a difficult task judging the winners from over eighty high standard nominations) and to the award sponsors Wincanton and MCIA.
This year we are placing a special emphasis on the management of those who drive for work and my fleet awards are made to companies which are not only trying to make their own drivers safer but who are prepared to go the extra mile to share how they do this with others through the Driving for Better Business Campaign. So it is splendid to the sponsors of these awards – the Fleet Support Group and the IAM - companies which themselves provide vital support for business safety.
Technology is vital to ensure effective safety and in the future it is likely to play an even more significant role. I am therefore delighted that last year’s Premier Award winner, Thatcham has decided to sponsor my annual Technology Award which has gone to Volvo Cars to mark the 50th anniversary of the safety belt and in recognition of the company’s vision to design cars that should not crash.
I am also grateful to Bosch, a company dedicated to improving safety who kindly sponsored the reception; and for the generous sponsorship from Speed Check Services.
It is a particularly exciting time for the Speed Check as The Home Office has just approved the deployment of its innovative SPECS system which will undoubtedly help to reduce collisions across area networks – something never possible before.
You will hear more about the winners later when I announce the Premier Award.
I do hope that you enjoyed your lunch. My thanks to the staff here and to the team who organised such a wonderful event.
Earlier I mentioned the Decade of Action and the film illustrated just how much the world needs many more professionals like you to redouble their efforts to save those five million lives.
I also briefly mentioned the vital role of The FIA Foundation, which has focused it energy onto raising the world’s awareness of the vast scale of the road safety problem through its work in influencing governments, through The Commission for Global Road Safety and through its Make Roads Campaign. Without the Foundation we would never had a Moscow Ministerial Conference and certainly no Decade of Action.
The Foundation is responsible for some remarkable achievements.
So I am going to give my Premier Award this year to The FIA Foundation.
Speech by Prince Michael at the Road Safety Awards, 9 Dec 2008
Welcome to you all, especially the Award winners in a year which has been significant for road safety all over the world.
I know how much you in this room have done to help reduce the death toll in Britain to below 3000 – a remarkable achievement and one for which you should be proud. But while our casualty numbers and those in many other developed countries are falling, the global picture is ominous and we cannot afford to relax.
Effective results in road safety can only be achieved through strong leadership and by changing the behaviour of road users, developing safer vehicles and improving road design. History has told us that progress can be slow. Here in Britain we can look back to 1987, when Peter Bottomley was the minister responsible, to see just how difficult the task can be – because he was involved with the creation of these awards to underpin a new government strategy and begin a new approach. I am delighted that he is here with us today.
On a wider scale, it was the WHO World Bank report on road traffic injury prevention – th e report that won my premier award in 2004 - that set in motion an international road safety movement. I am the patron of The Commission for Global Road Safety which is a leader in this initiative. One of our goals was for a meeting of the world’s transport ministers and I am delighted that The Russian Federation is to host the first such meeting in Moscow in November next year.
Earlier today I was delighted to meet all this year’s award winners and particularly the head of the Nigerian Federal Road Safety Corps who is here to receive my International Award.
It is very good to have with us Mr Jim Fitzpatrick, our minister, who champions our cause and has already kindly presented two of my awards.
I would like to thank our sponsors and especially two companies whose own safety technology is making such a difference. Speed Check who support this event and Bosch who sponsored the reception.
I am pleased to announce that next year we will be making a special joint award using a fund which has been established in memory of Christopher Bullock, the former chief executive of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, who sadly died a year ago. This award will be a scholarship for applied research.
As you will know, two groups remain exceptionally high risk – young drivers and those who drive for work.
Today we have many winners who deliver effective programmes aimed at young drivers, some of whom deliver road safety in schools at that critical stage when prospective drivers are between 12 and 16.
I am therefore very glad that Nigel Mansell, my vice patron, is able to be with us too, sitting with a team which does just that. As many of you will know, in addition to his presidency of the IAM,he commits much of his time to supporting young people through UK Youth, and through the charity First Gear.
My thanks go to the two new sponsors of awards for work based road safety – The Fleet Support Group and the IAM’s new commercial arm.
Schemes which apply the most modern technology feature prominently among the winners. This is an area where much more can still be done. So I am particularly grateful that Thatcham will sponsor a new Technology Award from 2009 and that Claes Tingvall from Sweden has agreed to join our panel of judges. This international knowledge and expertise will be invaluable.
I mentioned earlier the Commission for Global Road Safety. It is Chaired by Lord Robertson but organised by the FIA Foundation –which of course stands behind so much in road safety and wields its influence across the world. My thanks to David Ward and his team for all their work and to the Foundation for sponsoring the International Awards.
Later I will announce the Premier Award winner but for now I want to make one plea: commit yourselves to helping others struggling to make roads safer particularly in the developing world. They badly need support and a chance to share the knowledge and expertise that you have to offer.
Enjoy your lunch and I will talk to you later.
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Now, a word of appreciation to the team who organise my awards. First of all to our Director, Adrian Walsh who since 2001 has been at the very centre of the organising machine and has now become a leading authority on international read safety matters. He deserves our applause. A big thank you too to Mr Tony Spalding, the chairman, and his board members, panel members and other friends of RoadSafe who gave their time and expertise judging over eighty nominations received this year. They have already presented many of the awards at ceremonies and events across the country.
Congratulations to all the winners. You have been singled out for your dedication to Road Safety and I hope you will continue as you have begun.
Finally I would like to announce my Premier Award winner. To choose an outright victor was a tough challenge because you have all made such an effort and you all deserve to be recognised.
But I mentioned earlier the importance of technologies, The Bosch product ESC, is one. Their potential is vast, but sometimes penetrating the market can be a slow process. We need to raise public understanding to stimulate markets and to ensure that manufacturers compete to deliver safer vehicles. It was in this area that we found the Premier Award winner which goes this year to the Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre, Thatcham.
Speech by Jim Fitzpatrick MP, Parliamentary under Secretary of State.
Your Royal Highness, honoured and distinguished guests thank you for inviting me here today to add my congratulations to the award winners on behalf not only of the Government, but all parties at Westminster.
It is a privilege to be here, among so many of the people, who have done so much in the cause of road safety, and its good to see 2 distinguished predecessors of mine Peter Bottomley and David Jamieson here too.
However, as Adrian’s video piece highlighted only too well, Road Safety is an international issue.
It also exemplified the contributions, that many types of organisation and partnerships can make to road casualty reduction.
Whether it is providing education and training for people driving for work, for children or for young drivers, targeted actions are vital contributions towards any strategy .
Technology can also make a major contribution. The award winners showed this for education and enforcement, as well as for engineering.
The recent reduction in road deaths in Britain, is encouraging.
All Governments in the UK have long made road safety a priority and we do not plan to slacken our efforts in this area.
Indeed, we are currently consulting on plans to reform the compliance framework, with the aim to help the responsible majority of drivers, and crack down on the reckless few.
Our proposals cover a range of key issues including speeding, drink driving and driving under the influence of drugs.
As always, we continue to run a whole series of directly and indirectly targeted campaigns, to keep in the public eye, the safety message home – whether that is through the Police, vehicle regulations, or the media.
But there is always more to do, and that’s why we are planning for a new Road Safety Strategy when the current one comes to a end in 2010. A formal consultation to this effect will take place next spring.
I’m very conscious of the fact that the only thing standing between you and your lunch is me, so I won’t keep you any longer.
So, in conclusion, I would ask you once again, to join me, in paying tribute to the worthy recipients of each of these awards.
Thank you & congratulations
Delivered: 09 December 2008
(This speech represented existing departmental policy but the words may not have been the same as those used by the Minister.)
