OREANDA-NEWS. November 19, 2009. In his speech, the President proposed coordinating international efforts in this field just as the international community is currently working together to overcome the global economic crisis. Dmitry Medvedev advocated developing immediate and joint measures to better ensure road safety.

Mr Medvedev said that Russia supports the UN initiative to declare the decade to come that of action to ensure road safety.

The main topic of the conference is the causes of road traffic accidents and the prevention of associated injuries.

According to statistics, every year more than a million people are killed in car accidents around the world.

In Russia the rate of accidents remains very high despite a decline in the number of accidents, fatalities and related injuries. In 2009, about 168,000 traffic accidents occurred on Russian roads killing 21,300 people and injuring 212,500 others.

The conference features around 1,500 participants from 150 countries, 20 public and 80 non-governmental organisations.