[PR] RSA - First UN Global Road Safety Week Starts Monday

Victor

http://www.rsa.ie/NEWS/News/First_UN_Global_Road_Safety_Week_Starts_Monday_-_1.2_Million_Killed_On_Roads_Each_Year_Worldwide.html

RSA – First UN Global Road Safety Week Starts Monday
1.2 Million Killed On Roads Each Year Worldwide
17 April 2007

The world’s first UN Global Road Safety Week will take place from the 23rd to the 29th of April this year. Its theme will be “young road users”.

According to the UN road traffic collisions kill nearly 1.2 million people worldwide every year, and injure millions more. They are the second leading cause of death for people aged 5 to 25, with devastating impact on families and communities. Among this age group, young men -- as pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, novice drivers and passengers -- are nearly three times more likely to be killed or injured on the roads than young women.

The main objectives of this First United Nations Global Road Safety Week 2007 are to:
• Raise awareness about the societal impact of road traffic injuries, highlighting the risks for young road users.
• Promote action around key factors which have a major impact on preventing road traffic injuries: helmets, seat-belts, drink driving, speeding and infrastructure.

The slogan for the Week, "Road Safety is No Accident", highlights the fact that road safety happens not by accident, but through the deliberate efforts on the part of many individuals and many sectors of society - governmental and nongovernmental alike.

The RSA has planned a number of high profile initiatives in the build up to and during the First UN Global Road Safety Week. The key themes for the RSA during the week include Road Safety Education, Young Male Drivers and Anti-Speeding. The anti speeding activity is designed to integrate with the enforcement strategy of An Garda Síochána and TISPOL the European Road Policing Network.

Along with these activities the RSA has produced and distributed nationwide a poster to mark the First UN Global Road Safety Week in co-operation with the main stakeholder agencies involved in road safety, including the Department of Transport, An Garda Síochána and the Department of Health.

The RSA and the Department of Health will also jointly send two young people to represent Ireland at the World Youth Assembly for Road Safety on 23-24 April 2007 which is being held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. The Assembly will be modelled on the format of the UN General Assembly or World Health Assembly, involving delegations of young people from many countries.

The Assembly is a youth-oriented event, organized, led and attended by young people. The objectives of the Assembly are to:

1. Give a voice to young people on the road safety issue.
2. Contribute to a shift in attitudes and behaviour towards road safety among young people.
3. Encourage and support a cadre of national leaders for road safety.
4. Launch the "Youth Declaration for Road Safety", a document describing the views of young people on what they, their parents, teachers, government leaders and others can do to improve road safety, which will be used to catalyze attention and spur action around the world.
5. In addition to adopting the "Youth Declaration for Road Safety", delegates will have the opportunity to hear from road safety experts, present on national and local road safety activities involving youth, and participate in working groups on how to implement the declaration in their home countries.

The RSA will announce further details of its planned activities to mark the first UN Global Road Safety Week shortly and will be posted on the RSA’s website.

A copy of the RSA’s Global Road Safety Week poster is currently available for download from the RSA website www.rsa.ie


ENDS