WP.1 meets twice a year in Geneva to consider a vast array of issues related to road traffic safety. One of the WP.1's major activities is the updating of the existing  legal instruments in the field of road transport administered by ECE, such as the Vienna Conventions on Road Signs and Signals and on Road Traffic of 1968, and the 1971 European Agreements supplementing them. WP.1 also develops new legal instruments as the needs arise.

Additionally, WP.1 prepares recommendations and considers actions at national and international levels on such specific issues as: pedestrians' safety, road works signing, international driving permits, definitions of road vehicles, national road safety requirements, exchange of experiences,  assistance to countries in transition, and other issues, as appropriate.

The UN/ECE Transport Division provides the secretariat support to the work of WP.1, including servicing of meetings, preparation of documentation, agendas and reports for these meetings, collection and dissemination of data and information, liaison between concerned parties and Governments, promotion of selected activities, etc.