Dear readers,

Our Association's activities are structured through a 4-year Strategic Plan, which is based on our members' priorities. It is also a good management tool which is necessary to drive the activities of our 1,200 international experts. One theme that has emerged more than 20 years ago and remains at the forefront of our priorities is road safety.

Over the years, PIARC has developed an extensive body of knowledge with technical reports and manuals that cover the whole range of issues: methodologies for road safety audits and inspections, guidelines for remedial measures, report on combating driver distraction and fatigue, recommendations on better taking human factors into account in the design and operations of roads, etc.. These reports and online manual are available for free and provide international best practice, tools, case studies, check lists... that can be used by countries at all stages of development.

At PIARC, we are convinced that road operators and managers have a key role to play in ensuring road safety to their users and workers. The road infrastructure is involved, together with the vehicle and the driver, in ensuring a safe transport system. A key message from the World Road Association is that solutions exist and should be implemented in all cases. We recommend that all our members implement methodologies on all these factors, and develop training courses for road planners, road designers, road managers and accident investigators.

These efforts were once again recognized by the United Nations, when they mentioned PIARC's road safety manual in their A/RES/72/271 draft resolution on April 12, 2018. This is quite an honor. We will also take part in the International Transport Forum Summit in Leipzig, Germany, to promote the use of our knowledge products. As it happens, the theme this year is "Transport Safety and Security" and I am sure that the PIARC stand will be a success!

Last but not least, note that the call for papers for the 26th World Road Congress is open! We invite experts from all over the world to contribute, and to meet in Abu Dhabi in October 2019.

Kind regards,

Patrick Malléjacq