David Ward

Superb talk by Prof Missy Cummings on Autonomous Vehicles PAVE UK in London. Highlighting lessons from AV failures she demolished common misconceptions confirming that all ‘self driving’ requires remote operator ‘babysitting’. IMO this will require data transparency & audits.

Great discussion at Humanetics Safety Summit in Detroit today on making safety a mission. I cited advances in crash avoidance & protection but warned that auto trade disputes risk much needed improvements especially in pedestrian safety. Shared global standards build needed market for safer vehicles

Impressively broad support for ending first past the post @Labour4pr rally in Liverpool. Call for a national commission on proportional representation strongly endorsed. See: www.fairelections.uk/national-com...

In Liverpool with Emma MacLennan at #LabourConference2025. Pleased to speak with ITV’s Kit Bradshaw on govt. challenges & fight against fallacies & falsehoods of Farage. Great discussion with Attorney General Richard Herner on rule of law & role of European Convention on Human Rights.

Great to visit Giannis & #MikisTheodorakis family home in Galatas #Chania today with @emmamaclennan.bsky.social. Now a beautiful national monument celebrating the life of a musician & activist who left an enormous musical legacy to Greece & the world. He died 4 years ago & is buried nearby.

ETSC: Mutual Recognition Deal with U.S. Will Cost Lives on Europe’s Roads By signing up to mutual recognition of vehicle standards with the United States, the European Union has waved the white flag on road safety. This is not a technical detail – it is a political choice…

Trump is trying to force the EU to legalize US car bloat, and European safety leaders are furious:

"Europe now risks being flooded with oversized, under-regulated U.S. pick-up trucks and SUVs – vehicles that are...completely out of step with Europe’s vision for safer, more sustainable mobility."

Very pleased to have contributed to latest Leading Labour podcast by Izzy Conn about my experience working for the late John Smith. His Labour leadership lasted less than 2 years but left strong legacy. Well worth a listen here: shorturl.at/e4GFP & to entire series.

No, Hitler shot himself & the Nazi regime unconditionally surrendered as did Japan after the US dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima & Nagasaki. JD Vance clearly didn’t study much history…

Rich economies will need foreign workers to fuel growth, policymakers warn Central bankers say low birth rates in world’s largest economies pose threat to productivity and prices

Meanwhile, UK politicians continue their race to the bottom as to who can talk the most nonsense about immigration...

www.ft.com/content/8bfd...

The US-Canadian Road Safety Gap Is Getting Wider Despite similar infrastructure and vehicle fleets, the US and Canada are going in very different directions when it comes to traffic safety. A new study breaks down the divergence.

Canada and the US are both car-centric, spacious countries. But an American is 2.5x more likely to die in a crash than a Canadian – and the gap is widening.

My latest, in Bloomberg. 🧵

In 1917 British Government’s Balfour Declaration pledged support for Jewish homeland without prejudice to “civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine”. Time long overdue for Britain to honour that condition & now recognise Palestinian statehood.

Lovely ceremony to dedicate a bench in honour of our late son Alex at Noakes Meadow play area in Beaver ward Ashford where he served as a Councillor. He would be so proud to welcome Ashford Labour MP Sojan Joseph MP, Mayor Lyn Suddards, wife Elizabeth Ward, with family & friends.

Five years today since Alex was lost to MND. Always in our hearts. “Unable are the loved to die, For love is immortality, Nay it is Deity…” (Emily Dickinson). #United2EndMND.

Great to be interviewed by @davidzipper.bsky.social on global vehicle standards and why the US no longer leads the world in auto safety.

33 national, regional & global road safety organisations have now signed joint letter #ITF25 warning of risks that auto trade disputes may undermine vehicle safety standards. To promote safety & facilitate trade, regulations should be levelled up not down. www.globalncap.org/news/standar...

@GlobalNCAP event at #ITF25 today I corrected President Trump’s claim that pedestrian protection standards are an unfair trade practice. Not a ‘bowling ball’ test but a well established global regulation using a head form to replicate pedestrian impact. www.globalncap.org/blog/preside...

Great opening day at #ITF25 in Leipzig with strong focus on vehicle safety priorities highlighting #StopTheCrash technologies auto emergency braking & motorcycle anti-lock brakes. Pleased to welcome ITF summit delegates @globalncap.org safety demonstrations & side event.

Great speech by @robfordmancs.bsky.social @appgfairelections.bsky.social in Parliament today. Warned First Past ThePost can’t cope with party fragmentation, erodes mandates, & risks electoral chaos with results as unpredictable ‘as a fruit machine’. Labour choice: lead or be led to electoral reform.

This week is the UN Global Road Safety Week supporting action to #MakeWalkingSafe & #MakeCyclingSafe. For more see: www.who.int/campaigns/un...

Hopefully UK-US trade deal will not lead to any watering down of vehicle safety. Over last few decades US & UK safety standards have diverged notably for pedestrian protection regulation which President Trump claims is an unfair trade practice. Read more: daviddjward.com

Eighty years ago my parents Sam & Pat were both among the crowds in central London for VE Day, but they didn’t meet until a year later. My mother told me that her sense of relief & joy was eclipsed by sadness & loss of her brother John killed on D Day 11 months earlier. #VE80

Privileged to attend HM King Charles’ garden party at Buckingham Palace today with @emmamaclennan.bsky.social Amused to chat with late John Smith’s 1992 Commons sparring partner ex Chancellor Lord Lamont. Great to meet also with fellow Tenterden residents Tim & Mary Monckton.

Great to be in Delhi last month to speak at IRTE workshop on vehicle safety. Focus on motorcycle & commercial fleet safety. Strong speech by the Minister of Transport Nitin Gadkari & launch @globalncap.org new fleet safety purchasing guide.

At World Traffic Safety Symposium @NYAutoShow I praised past US leadership on global safety standards (eg: electronic stability control) but lamented delay to act on pedestrian protection which must not become victim of President Trump’s trade wars. See: bit.ly/3G9Ap5q

Last week in the White House President Trump talked about pedestrian safety standards in a very unusual way. So last night after I arrived in New York I did some research myself…and I think I’ve cracked it. See picture below of the original team pioneering the bowling ball test on a Chevy!

The cull by Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency disproportionately hit staff overseeing the technology on which the billionaire has staked Tesla’s future. www.ft.com/content/ede5...

Looking forward to speaking on vehicle safety lessons & priorities at World Traffic Safety Symposium New York International Auto Show on Thursday. Timely opportunity to highlight benefits of global harmonisation for pedestrian protection, auto emergency breaking, & other life saving technologies.

Icebergs vs the bond market: the winner of the longest lasting lettuce is…

Proud to be standing for Tenterden as Labour candidate in Kent County Council elections on 1st May. I’ve campaigned to fix potholes, serve on the Town Council, support our local Neighbourhood Plan & share my late son Alex’s commitment to public service. #DavidW4Tenterden!

Great discussion on devolution in Kent Weald of Kent Labour meeting in Tenterden yesterday with @vincemaple leader of Medway Council. Vince made strong case for new structure of 4 unitary authorities & mayoralty for Kent. Will be biggest reform of our local democracy in more than 50 years