8th UN Global Road Safety Week: #MakeWalkingSafe #MakeCyclingSafe
The 8th UN Global Road Safety Week will be held 12-18 May 2025. It aims to mobilize advocates and communities to demand safer streets for walking and cycling and calls on policy makers to implement proven interventions to achieve it. When walking and cycling are safe, these modes of transport can contribute to making people healthy, cities sustainable, and societies equitable.
When walking and cycling are safe, these modes of transport can contribute to making people healthy, cities sustainable, and societies equitable.
Pedestrians and cyclists make up more than one quarter of all road traffic deaths.
Proven evidence-based measures must be taken to make walking and cycling safe. It mentions:
safe road design: dedicated walking and cycling lanes, sidewalks, crosswalks, and roadway lighting;
safe vehicles: emergency braking systems, electronic stability control, in-vehicle technology systems that detect pedestrians and cyclists and crash-protective vehicle fronts;
safe speeds: speed limits set at maximum 30 km/h (20 mph) in cities and strong enforcement of these limits;
safe behaviours: as drivers, avoiding speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and distracted driving, and comprehensive laws and law enforcement around these behaviours; and
timely, lifesaving emergency care.
Walking and cycling are an integral part of the multimodal transport systems advocated in the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2020-2030
Promoting and supporting policies on walking and cycling is cost-effective.
The 8th UN Global Road Safety Week offers an opportunity to spur action at national and local levels to make walking and cycling safe.
Mobility Snapshots are data collected at local intersections to show the dangerous realities of people’s daily journeys from the perspective of a pedestrian and cyclist. Use the Mobility Snapshots to show decision makers and communities the proven solutions to make walking and cycling safe in your city. Find out more HERE.
Share your photos and videos with us
We would love to share your photos and video clips for the UN Global Road Safety Week safe walking and cycling campaign or tell us about your campaign:
Short video clips (20 seconds or less) of you, community members, or decision makers showing what it’s like to walk and cycle in your community.
Photos of you, community members, or decision makers with the campaign signboards
The Mobility Snapshots will be the primary tool for the Alliance’s campaign mobilization.
What is a Mobility Snapshot?
Mobility Snapshots are data collected at intersections from the perspective of a pedestrian or cyclist. They consider how many people are walking and cycling at an intersection and whether life-saving interventions, such as 30 km/h limits, pedestrian crossings and footpaths, and traffic calming. Advocates select an intersection, upload their information via an online form, and can download an infographic template to share their results.
The Mobility Snapshots were first launched in 2024 for the Alliance’s #CommittoAct campaign. For 2025, cycling questions will be added to the tool.
Mobility Snapshot map at the Ministerial Conference
How to do a Mobility Snapshot
To do a Mobility Snapshot, choose an intersection meeting the criteria, choose which tool you want to use, and go to the intersection to collect the data.
NGO in Ecuador advocating with the Mobility Snapshot
If you did a Mobility Snapshot in 2024 and want to continue working with the same intersection(s):
If recommended changes have been implemented, do a repeat Mobility Snapshot to check the impact. You can get an updated Star Rating if you previously used the Star Rating tool.
If you have commitment from your authorities but no implemented changes yet, the UN Global Road Safety Week can be an excellent opportunity to encourage them to publicly announce the commitment or unveil the implementation.
If no changes have been implemented and no commitments made, you can continue your advocacy at the intersection. Why not repeat the Mobility Snapshot with community members or a local decision maker, put up campaign banners, or hold a flashmob or even a roundtable at or near the intersection (if it is safe to do so)
Doing new Mobility Snapshots
A Mobility Snapshot intersection in Abuja, Nigeria
Choose one intersection or several to do a Mobility Snapshot.
Decide what you want to advocate for:
Changes to one intersection
Changes to a group of streets
Implementation of a particular intervention across a community, municipality, or city
New or updated city policies for pedestrians and/or cyclists
Other advocacy linked to your ongoing work and where a Mobility Snapshot can help provide the evidence to support your asks
Do your Mobility Snapshot(s) and use it to advocate
Activity ideas to support your Mobility Snapshot
NGOs taking part in a walk and ride in support of UN Global Road Safety Week
Organize a ‘show and tell’ to take a key decision maker to the intersection and experience it as a pedestrian (or cyclist)
Repeat the Mobility Snapshot with community members to build demand
Flashmobs or media events at or near the Mobility Snapshot intersection (if safe)
Car-free days around the Mobility Snapshot intersection (or do a Mobility Snapshot where a car-free day is already planned)
Pop-up infrastructure during campaign week to pilot and build the case for permanent change
Walking and/or cycling processions or tours passing through the Mobility Snapshot intersection
Roundtables with authorities to present the Mobility Snapshot data and seek a commitment
Social media campaigns using campaign infographics or video clips of road users at the intersection
Mobility Snapshot stories
Read examples of how NGOs used the Mobility Snapshots in our 2024 campaign.
Get ready for the campaign at our walkthrough sessions. Sessions are aimed at NGOs but are relevant for anyone planning a local or national UN Global Road Safety Week campaign.
