ACRS Patron: His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC
Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia
 

Leading international road safety advocate, Mr Rob McInerney, CEO of the International Road Assessment Program (iRAP), was presented with the prestigious 2015 ACRS Fellowship at last night’s glittering ACRS Award Ceremony on the Gold Coast.  The ceremony took place in front of 550 of Australasia’s foremost road safety professionals and advocates, and is recognition of Mr McInerney’s deep commitment to the reduction of road trauma.

The award was presented by Hon Michael McCormack, Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister, and ACRS President Mr Lauchlan McIntosh AM, during the inaugural Australasian Road Safety Conference (ARSC2015) at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre.

From left: ACRS President Lauchlan McIntosh AM,
2015 ACRS Fellow Mr Rob McInerney, &
Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister, Hon Michael McCormack MP

In detailing the award, ACRS President Mr Lauchlan McIntosh AM, said “Rob McInerney continues to be an outstanding advocate for road safety across the globe.  Rob is a qualified engineer and worked with the ARRB Group (previously the Australian Road Research Board) culminating in the role of Regional Manager in 2007.  Rob’s communication and leadership abilities then took him to his current role as CEO of the International Road Assessment Program (iRAP), where for the last 8 years he has been instrumental in leading the charge for safer roads globally”.

During Rob’s term as CEO of iRAP, Rob has considerably strengthened partnerships with governments, development banks and civil society to help save lives through safer road infrastructure.  iRAP assessments have been undertaken in over 70 countries worldwide with more than 900,000 kilometres of road already risk-mapped or star-rated globally.  Under Rob’s leadership, many countries are now setting targets to maximise travel on 3-star or better roads.

Rob has also worked tirelessly for the inclusion of road safety targets in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This work has culminated in world leaders setting a target to “halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents” by 2020 during the recent UN meetings attended by Foreign Minister, Hon. Julie Bishop in New York. 

“The urgency to address road safety as part of the UN Global Goals highlights the significant burden of road trauma in every country worldwide.  Road crashes are the biggest killer of young people globally and typically account for more than 40% of major trauma in high-income country hospitals and some 70% of spinal injury in Africa as an example.  With the UN announcement we now have the political will for action, we have the vaccines for roads already and now all we need is the scale of the response” Rob said. 

“It is an honour to be awarded the ACRS Fellowship and I look forward to continuing to support the great work of the College as we aim to halve road deaths and injuries by 2020.”

With the award of Fellowship, Rob joins an elite group of eminent road safety professionals who have all been bestowed the honour of an ACRS Fellowship.  The College first instituted the award of Fellow in 1991 to enable colleagues to nominate a person recognised by their peers as outstanding in terms of their contributions to road safety. 
 

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About the Australasian College of Road Safety (ACRS):  The Australasian College of Road Safety (ACRS) is the region’s peak membership association for road safety professionals, advocates, and members of the public who are focused on saving lives and serious injuries on our roads.  The College provides an inclusive, collaborative environment promoting communication, networking, professionalism & advocacy across all spheres of road safety – including policy, advocacy, research, innovation, technologies, management..to name just a few.  ACRS membership includes experts from all areas of road safety: policy makers, academics, community organisations, researchers, federal, state and local government agencies, private companies and members of the public.

About the Australasian Road Safety Conference:  The inaugural 2015 Australasian Road Safety Conference is the result of a successful merger of Australasia’s two premier road safety conferences: the Australasian College of Road Safety Conference, and the Australasian Road Safety Research, Policing and Education Conference, and is managed by the Australasian College of Road Safety.

In 2015 the Conference is co-Hosted by the Australasian College of Road Safety, Austroads, and the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety - Queensland (CARRS-Q).