EASST presents Derran Williams and the Automobile Club of Moldova with the Margie Peden Prize for Safe System Implementation

We are delighted to announce Derran Williams (EBRD) and the Automobile Club of Moldova as recipients of the Margie Peden Prize for Safe System Implementation.

The award is named in honour of our late EASST Trustee who passed away in January 2026. Margie was a foundational figure in global injury prevention. Prior to joining EASST, she served for 17 years as the global Coordinator for Unintentional Injury Prevention at the WHO, where she made huge contributions to road safety. Her work produced landmark global reports on road traffic injury and child injury prevention, shaped UN and World Health Assembly resolutions, and established the evidence base for raising road safety as a global priority.

Margie was an integral part of EASST and a leading figure within the international road safety community. By creating this award in her name, we want to celebrate her legacy, recognise exceptional contributions to road safety, and highlight sustainable progress in making safer roads across our region.

The Margie Peden Prize was presented to Derran Williams and Tatiana Mihailova, Director of the Automobile Club of Moldova, in recognition of the sustainable impact of the ‘Safe Driving for Life’ launched more than a decade ago to improve fleet road safety management.

On presenting the award at our event marking European Mobility Week and the 30th anniversary of European vehicle safety legislation at EBRD headquarters in London on 16 September, Emma MacLennan, President Emeritus of EASST said:

“Derran Williams, EBRD’s Senior Health and Safety Advisor, is a tireless advocate for health and safety who is personally passionate about road safety.”

“The Automobile Club of Moldova are relentless and enormously talented. Their work to create safe and sustainable transport in Moldova has won many awards and recognitions. This deserved recognition can be added to their shelf!”

Safe Driving for Life

In 2011, the EBRD had provided a loan to Chisinau municipality in Moldova for the purchase of 102 modern, green trolleybuses. In the first year, a report by the trolleybus company identified 178 road crashes involving more than half the fleet, 41% of which were the fault of trolleybus drivers. It was also found that a significant number of collisions were with maxi-taxis. Maxi-taxi collisions overall in Chisinau resulted in 227 injuries and 7 deaths in that year.

With EBRD support, in February 2013, the ‘Safe Driving for Life’ campaign was launched in Moldova by EASST and the Automobile Club of Moldova (ACM). A seminar and training on ‘driving for better business’ was organised involving not just trolleybuses and buses, but maxi-taxis, private businesses such as the gas company, and public fleets like the police and rescue services.

On the back of this, a new Occupational Road Safety Working Party was established to support fleet managers, first meeting in March 2013. In their first year there was a 33% decline in public transport collisions and a 38% reduction in road casualties. The energy company, Premier Energy (formerly Gas Natural Fenosa), estimated a saving of almost €400,000 due to reductions in road crashes in their fleet of service vehicles. Maxi taxis – which were a core cause of collisions and are inaccessible for people with disabilities – are now confined to limited routes. Similarly, the Transport Department of Chisinau Municipality recorded that crashes within the area had been reduced to two thirds of the 2012 level in the same year.

One of the most significant sustainability impacts of this small, but groundbreaking, EBRD-supported project is that the transport managers involved still meet on a regular basis. They continue to work closely with the ACM to improve their road safety performance and periodically conduct further training for drivers. A raft of policies has been introduced to keep drivers educated, aware and motivated. Data is kept and interrogated by all parties. In the last 5 years, the total number of collisions involving public transport vehicles is now smaller than the number of trolleybus collisions that occurred in 2012 alone.

The Margie Peden Prize acknowledges and celebrates a collaboration which has achieved meaningful and lasting change. It recognises an outstanding individual and a tremendous organisation who came together to create a purpose-built solution to tackle fleet road safety management. Congratulations!