Brennan to call for global road safety agency

Transport Minister Seamus Brennan is expected to call for a global road safety agency during an address later today to the United Nations in New York.

Mr Brennan is due to give a speech to the body in his role as chairman of the EU Council of Transport Ministers.

He is expected to call for the creation of a body similar to the World Health Organisation to devise ways to reduce the number of road deaths worldwide.

The proposed agency would monitor developments and trends in individual countries with a view to formulating future policies.

An estimated 1.2 million people die in road accidents throughout the world annually and a further 50 million are injured each year.