Bridgestone at Asia Pacific Road Safety Conference 2025
Safer Journeys and Mobility for All
Life is a Journey. Let's Make it a Safe One
- - Asia Pacific Road Safety Conference 2025 is jointly organized by the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Asia-Pacific Road Safety Observatory (APRSO), Bridgestone Asia Pacific, and the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) are jointly proud to announce this key regional conference.
- - The Conference includes leading topics in current road safety conversations around strengthening and diversifying financing. It will also provide participants with a deeper understanding of effective, evidence-based road safety interventions that can be applied towards the goals of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030.
Manila (09-11 September 2025) – This week in Manila, the Asia Pacific Road Safety Conference 2025 will bring together government agencies, development banks, NGOs and the private sector to discuss ways to reduce road traffic deaths and finance measures that could save lives. Bridgestone’s global road safety program last year received the prestigious Prince Michael International Road Safety Award. Here Paul Choo, Chief HR Officer and SVP of Bridgestone Asia Pacific talks about the need for continued action in the Asia Pacific region including Malaysia.
Why is this conference important?
To give you some context, global statistics indicate that five people will die in a road accident in perhaps just the time it takes to read this article. The cost to human life is enormous. The 2023 World Health Organisation report tells us that some 1.19 million people die in road traffic crashes each year and between 20 and 50 million are injured, including many disabilities.
Road crashes are also the leading killer of children and youth aged 5-29; meaning so many young people simply never get to fulfil their potential. Around 3,000 children are seriously injured or killed each day – many of them simply on their way to or from school; and a lot of this is happening in Asia-Pacific countries
The World Health Organisation estimates that road traffic crashes can cost countries around 3% of their GDP including the cost of treatment as well as lost productivity for those killed or disabled.
Is there any progress being made?
According to WHO, road traffic deaths worldwide fell by 5% between 2010 and 2021 despite the number of vehicles more than doubling -- this shows some overall progress but in many parts of the world the numbers are going in the wrong direction. It will be a huge task to meet the target of the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety which is to halve deaths by 2030.
What is the situation in this region compared to globally?
Globally, 28% of all fatalities occur in the WHO South-East Asia region and 25% in the Western Pacific. The European region accounts for 5% of deaths but has seen a 36% decline since 2010. The Western Pacific region reports a 16% decline but the South-East Asia region only a 2% decline.
It is a sad fact that not a single emerging country in the world has seen a reduction in road traffic deaths since 2013. Southeast Asia has one of the highest death rates – and, perhaps unsurprisingly, 43% of them involve motorized two and three wheelers in both developing and developed economies.
Why is there a particular focus on road safety funding at this year’s conference?
The design of roads and infrastructure can have a significant impact on traffic safety and the reality is that very often, especially in developing or emerging countries, governments overlook the vital road safety element in their infrastructure planning and budgeting. Clearly, it’s much easier to build these measures into a project than to retrofit them – especially when you consider both the awful human cost and the economic impact
What is the situation in Malaysia?
I understand that between January and October last year, there were more than 500,000 road accidents and some 5,300 deaths – that’s 14 deaths a day.
I am aware that the Malaysian Road Safety Plan 2022–2030 outlines the government's strategy to reduce road deaths by 50% by 2030 and this is in line with the UN’s SDG 3.6 goal; so that is a commendable goal for the country. The plan includes measures safer infrastructure for high-risk areas, speed management, and targeted education for road users — especially motorcyclists.
Can you tell us about Bridgestone’s road safety activities?
We launched the Bridgestone Road Safety Program (BRSP) in 2021 when we ran programs in 15 countries; in 2024 we had active programs in 29 countries. Our focus is safer mobility, safer roads and safer communities and employee engagement in our programs is very important for us; we’re very proud of the rate of BRSP volunteerism among our people especially in Asia-Pacific.
What have been some of the most interesting and successful programs?
Bridgestone has undertaken a range of programs including a great deal of emphasis on young people. In Australia, we have had a long-term program of support for RYDA which focuses on equipping young people with the attitude, skills and knowledge to make safe choices as both drivers and passengers; in Thailand, the focus has been on making the road environments around schools safer and creating road safety “Youth Champions” and “Teacher Advisors” to take the lead in road safety awareness. In Vietnam, our “Bridges to Knowledge” program has seen the building or improvement of bridges in rural communities which ensure children have safer journeys to school, especially during rainy season, and boost transportation links for the local economy.
Can you give some detail on the programs in Malaysia?
Bridgestone Malaysia’s road safety initiative has taken significant strides in promoting awareness, education, and tangible solutions to improve road safety. One of the key approaches we’ve adopted is leveraging academic and corporate networks to amplify our reach and influence across various platforms. A prime example of this is our collaboration with the University Sains Malaysia (USM), which has opened doors to a range of impactful public engagements and partnerships beyond the scope of our original contract. The aim of this partnership is to contribute to a reduction in death and injury from road crashes for students travelling to and from the University. Our program provides our community with the necessary knowledge and skills to navigate the roads confidently and responsibly through the implementation of a comprehensive road safety input and interactive events.
What’s the key to developing an effective program?
It’s about road safety interventions that are evidence-based – identifying a key issue and finding measurable solutions. It’s also about working closely with relevant NGOs and road safety bodies. We have been a member of the Global Road Safety Partnership for several years and it provides incredible support. One unique thing we’ve done at Bridgestone is to create a global BRSP Playbook. It’s used to share knowledge and to efficiently develop and structure programs that meet local needs.
How do you measure success?
We look at the impact of each of our programs including the number of people we work with directly – such as students, teachers or community leaders – and those that we indirectly reach through awareness and safety measures put in place. In December 2024, Bridgestone received the Prince Michael International Road Safety Award – which is a level of global recognition that reflects the nature and impact of our programs as we work towards the UN’s 2030 goals.