The past two months have been a fruitful time for the FIA, as we have managed to convey our key message of road safety to a large number of people, clubs, organisations and governments in many countries.
 
The bulk of my time was spent in Latin America where I attended the 13th American Congress in Cartagena, Colombia, as well as travelled to Venezuela, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, Guatemala, Mexico and Brazil for meetings and events with members of the FIA community. Everywhere I went I found total enthusiasm for addressing issues relating to road safety as well as excellent travel and logistic arrangements. For this I want to thank especially club presidents José Abed, from Mexico and Francisco José Fernandez Mejia from Colombia.

On the sporting side I attended the British and Belgian F1 Grand Prix as well as the FIA GT1 race at the Paul Ricard circuit in France.
 
Last weekend in Belgium I was pleased that  a number of club presidents and senior executives from this part of Europe accepted my invitation to share time together at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Either side of this weekend I was firstly in the Czech Republic, where the Autoclub of the Czech Republic has launched a number of lobbying initiatives aimed at changing the national law in matters of road safety, then I was in the Netherlands where instead the focus of roads safety has shifted to two wheels, bicycles in particular, and the deployment of more and better bike lanes to protect cyclists. I was hosted by the ANWB President Guido van Woerkom, who showed me round this impressive organisation, and also met with the Presidents from KNAC and KNAF.

Whilst in London I also had the opportunity, together with Senate President Nick Craw, Motor Sports Deputy President Graham Stoker, and Mobility Deputy President Brian Gibbons, of meeting the Secretary of State for Transport, Philip Hammond, as well as a number of other Members of Parliament whose brief is road safety as well as motorsport. Our message of road safety, linked to the new technologies we are helping and encouraging, is one that I managed to highlight in this forum, as well as throughout the past weeks whenever I had the opportunity of meeting the relevant authorities in each country.

Still on the sporting front, we have had a positive response from a number of international sporting federations, including the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In this context I attended the International Judo Federation 60th Anniversary celebrations in Paris on the occasion of the World Judo Championships where once more I found a big motivation to participate in our road safety campaign.

Throughout these visits in Europe as well as in Latin America, I was heartened by the growing evidence that sport and mobility clubs are willing, and able, to work together on a number of issues, in particular saving lives, young lives especially, in all matters of road safety. As a result there is increasing exchange of positive communication between the clubs on a national level, as well as international too. This is very encouraging.

Back to the Latin American trip, where the agenda of road safety is so key to the infrastructure in some countries, that I had the opportunity of exchanging views and examples of best practice with a number of heads of state and government officials. They all assured me these issues would be treated as priorities and therefore clubs and local organisations would get the support of the proper national and regional authorities. These are huge steps forward, as our Action for Road Safety initiative was launched only three months ago. That it is on the agenda of governements is a clear indication of the role the FIA has had in spreading this vital message and the growing influence of our clubs.

It was also very pleasing to see representatives from Region Three as well as the Inter America Development Bank, attending the Region Four Conference, once more growing evidence that common, global issues are uniting so many of the FIA’s clubs as these can be so readily translated to local realities. In essence everyone is sharing knowledge openly. This can only make us stronger.

So, it was a busy period, during which I very much enjoyed five days’ holiday with Michelle in the Sea of Cortez in Mexico. I hope all our community had the opportunity to relax and recharge their batteries.

I look forward to my forthcoming trip to Africa for the ACTA Conference which will take place in Botswana’s capital, Gaborone, as well as continuing to enrich my experience of the thriving FIA communities around the world by meeting with clubs in Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.

With best wishes,

Yours sincerely,