The Brazilian government announced on Tuesday their intention to join international agreements on road safety in order to cut deaths in vehicular accidents by half.

According to the government, a consultation on the theme was submitted to the Congress earlier in the day in a move to mark the 20th anniversary of the Brazilian Traffic Code.

The government plans to implement the National Plan for the Reduction of Deaths and Injuries in Road Accidents (Pnatrans), which follows international guidelines for the subject and includes a series of actions, including nationwide databases about vehicular accidents.

President Michel Temer said that preserving life is a duty of the government and remarked that, even when people survive vehicle accidents, sometimes they suffer permanent injuries.

Cutting deaths and injuries in vehicular accidents by half until 2020 is one of the measures recommended by the United Nations to fulfill Goal Three of the Sustainable Development Goals -- Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

Some 37,300 people died in vehicular accidents in Brazil in 2016. According to the UN, the global death toll reaches 1.5 million every year, and 3 percent of global GDP is consumed as a result of vehicular crashes.