Taking road safety lessons from the world's elite motor racers

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06:57

Motor racing is often seen as a dangerous sport, known for its crashes and intense speed, but Jean Todt, president of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) believes technology used in the sport can be transformed into lessons for road safety.

The FIA is a governing body for many auto racing events. Beside his role at the FIA, Todt is also former head of the Ferrari Formula One team from 2000 to 2004 and led the team during the golden era with racing legend Michael Schumacher.

Todt was appointed as the special envoy for road safety by the UN Secretary-General in 2015.

With his combination of experience in both the sport of motor racing and in advocating for road safety, Todt believes that some of the technologies used in car racing can be transferred into the daily driving to help people drive safer.

“Motor racing is a show, an entertainment and has been tested in laboratory where you can realize all the progress. Through deep research, we want to transfer the technology from motor racing into road cars,” said Todt. "Since 1994 there was not a single mortal accident in Formula One."

He has been urging for greater effort on lower road fatalities as the latest statistics from a World Health Organization (WHO) report show that the action taken so far has not been sufficient in curbing global road fatalities. According to the report, global road fatalities have increased to 1.35 million, with road traffic injuries being the first cause of death among children and young adults aged 5-29.

Promoting safer roads has always been a priority at the FIA. The organization launched the #3500LIVES road safety awareness campaign with the support of JCDecaux, the number one outdoor advertising company worldwide, to encourages all road users to adopt simple, easily applicable and efficient road safety rules.

Jean Todt, president of FIA. /CGTN Screenshot

Todt has also been promoting Formula One drivers as good ambassadors for road safety. He said in a previous interview that Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher were more likely to persuade someone to drive well and safely, than the leader of any country.