David Ward is President Emeritus of Global NCAP, which promotes independent vehicle safety rating worldwide. Global NCAP also hosts Stop the Crash Partnership, and the Commonwealth Road Safety Initiative. He represents Global NCAP in the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration and the Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety.
Previously David was the Executive President of the Towards Zero Foundation (which hosted Global NCAP until 2025). From 2001 to 2013 David was the founding Director General of the FIA Foundation. This was established as an independent UK charity with an endowment of $300 million from the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and is one of the world’s largest philanthropies promoting safe and sustainable transport. He has also served in a wide range of related roles including:
- Secretary of the Commission for Global Road Safety (2006-2015), chaired by Lord Roberston of Port Ellen, which was instrumental in the establishment of the first United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020).
- President of eSafety Aware (2007-2009) a public-private partnership launched by the European Commission to promote crash avoidance systems in the European Union.
- Chairman of the World Bank’s Global Road Safety Facility (2010 to 2012) which co-finances and co-ordinates road injury prevention activities of the multilateral development banks.
- Founding co-Chair in 2009 of the Global Fuel Economy Initiative in partnership with the UN Environment Programme, the International Energy Agency, and the International Transport Forum.
- Founding Board Member of the European New Car Assessment Programme (1996 to 2006) which initiated the first ever pan-European consumer vehicle safety rating partnership, and which has significantly contributed to the near halving of road traffic deaths across the European Union.
The positive impact of David’s work has been internationally recognized. The road safety organisations he has led have won the prestigious annual Prince Michael Premier International Road Safety Award on an unprecedented three separate occasions:
- The FIA Foundation in 2009 for the Make Roads Safe campaign which succeeded in securing the first ever Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety and a UN Decade of Action (2011-2020).
- The Global New Car Assessment Programme in 2016 for its #NoZeroStarCars campaign and consumer crash ratings that have raised vehicle safety standards worldwide.
- The Towards Zero Foundation in 2020 for the #50by30 Campaign which succeeded in securing a UN commitment to halve road deaths and injuries in a second Decade of Action (2021 to 2030).
His prior employment includes serving as:
- Director General of the European Union Bureau of the FIA based in Brussels, leading advocacy campaigns on vehicle safety and environmental issues (1994 to 2001).
- Chief Policy Adviser to the late Rt. Hon. John Smith QC MP, Leader of the Labour Party and Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, playing a significant role in policy formulation of the Labour Party (1988 to 1994).
David also previously worked as Head of Communications for the United Nations Children’s Fund UK, as the Campaigns Officer for the Parliamentary Labour Party, for a development NGO, and as a freelance journalist. He graduated from London University in 1979 with a BA in philosophy and is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
David is 69 years old and married to Emma Maclennan, the Director of the Eastern Alliance for Safe and Sustainable Transport. They live in Tenterden, Kent in the UK, and have two children, Alex and Katy and two grand children. Alex sadly died in 2020 aged 31 from motor neurone disease (MND) and both Emma and David have been involved in charitable activity to support people living with MND and to find a cure. In May 2023 David was elected to serve on Tenterden Town Council.