Mayor Michael Bloomberg announces new worldwide commitments to global road safety at the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg recognized EMBARQ and its partners for working to improve road safety and reduce traffic fatalities at the Human Potential Plenary of the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting, held September 21-23 in New York City.

Mayor Bloomberg, who was introduced to the stage by President Bill Clinton, commended his foundation's $125 million five-year effort to support six organizations, including EMBARQ, that are implementing key road safety interventions in countries from Mexico to Cambodia.

"Traffic fatalities can be prevented and there are interventions that do work, such as increased use of seat belts and motorcycle helmets," Bloomberg said.

He also recognized EMBARQ's sustainable transportation projects as solutions to make streets safer and save lives.

"In Brazil," he gave as an example, "we're working with five cities that will play host to the next Olympics and the World Cup to develop bus rapid transit systems that will help get thousands of drivers off the road."

The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2011-2020 as the "Decade of Action for Road Safety", recognizing the "tremendous global burden" of fatalities and injuries resulting from road crashes each year.

Mayor Bloomberg explained the scope of the growing problem: "Vehicle crashes kill 1.2 million people each year, mostly in growing and newly motorizing countries. That's equivalent to all the men, women and children in the city of Dallas, Texas, and that doesn't even count the 50 million people worldwide who are seriously and often permanently injured from road traffic crashes. Unless we take some vigorous steps now, traffic fatalities are expected to overtake HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and lung cancer to become the fifth leading cause of death globally by the year 2030."

Mayor Bloomberg also announced five other new CGI commitments on road safety, presented by Michelle Yeoh, global ambassador for Make Roads Safe, Luis Moreno, president of the Inter-American Development Bank, Maria Rodriguez, president of the Gonzalo Rodriguez Memorial Foundation, John Dawson, chairman and founder of the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP), Greig Craft, president of the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation, Denise Dias, founder and chairperson of The Alicea Foundation and Mothers in Black, and Mark Penn, worldwide president and CEO of Burson-Marsteller.