CLEPA, the European Association of Automotive Suppliers gives its firm support to the FIA’s Action for Road Safety.

Road fatalities have become the main cause of death among young people aged 15 to 29 years with nine out of ten victims living in developing countries. In 2010 road accidents resulted in the deaths of 1.3 million people worldwide and injuries among nearly fifty million more. In 2011, in Europe the number recorded accidents reached 1.1 million in total.

These figures can be and must be reduced.

The automotive suppliers invest €15 Billion per year in RDI and produce by far most of the equipment that saves lives. These include, among others, systems for electronic stability control, collision warning, emergency braking, lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring and adaptive headlights. CLEPA supports the implementation of the life-saving eCall system being fitted in all new models of cars and light duty vehicles from 2015.

Jean-Marc Gales, CLEPA CEO said “It is difficult to accept the figures associated with road deaths and injuries when effective safety technologies are available at affordable prices.”

The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile, (FIA) launched its Action for Road Safety campaign in May 2011 in response to the challenges raised the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety. The goal of the Action is to prevent five million deaths and countless serious injuries on roads around the world over the next ten years. The FIA’s campaign targets motorists, motorsport enthusiasts, young people and governments and encourages member clubs and federations to commit to addressing critical road safety problems in their country.

For more information on the campaign see: www.actionforroadsafety.org

Note to Editors

CLEPA is the European Association of Automotive Suppliers.

90 of the world's most prominent suppliers for car parts, systems and modules and 25 National trade associations and European sector associations are members of CLEPA, representing more than 3 thousand companies, employing more than 5 million people and covering all products and services within the automotive supply chain. Based in Brussels, Belgium, CLEPA is recognized as the natural discussion partner by the European Institutions, United Nations and fellow associations (ACEA, JAMA, MEMA, etc). For more information, consult: www.clepa.eu

For more information, please contact:

Mrs Amalia Di Stefano, CLEPA Deputy CEO a.distefano@clepa.be; Tel.: +32 2 743 91 35