On the eve of Global Road Safety Week (GRSW) 2015, road safety professionals and other stakeholders are being urged to spread the word about the resources and initiatives here in the UK that have been prepared in support of the Week.
The focus for GRSW 2015 (4-10 May) is child road safety. Using the slogan #SaveKidsLives, the UN Road Safety Collaboration campaign is seeking to highlight the plight of children on the world’s roads, and generate action to better ensure their safety.
Here in the UK a partnership of road safety organisations*, headed by Road Safety GB, has prepared a comprehensive suite of resources and initiatives for the Week.
Honor Byford, chair of Road Safety GB, said: “GRSW 2015 provides a unique opportunity to raise the profile of road safety and highlight the importance of reducing road deaths and injuries suffered by children around the globe.
“Unfortunately here in the UK GRSW clashes with the General Election and a bank holiday weekend, which is why it is especially important that road safety stakeholders help us promote the activities we’ve planned and resources we’ve produced.
“Theses include a suite of road safety resources for children – including activity sheets, maps and country profilers – which are available free to download.
“We’ve also produced a series of simple ‘how to’ guides to help educators and others teach basic road safety to children. The guides cover children as pedestrians and cyclists, travelling in cars and on public transport, and setting up a Junior Road Safety Officer scheme.
“We’ve also compiled a database of road safety professionals with expertise with regard to child road safety, who are willing to provide advice and support to people in other parts of the world.
“And finally we’re running a series of four online discussion forums during the course of next week, covering children as pedestrians, as cyclists, travelling in cars, and how to set up and run a Junior Road Safety Officer scheme
“These forums are free of charge and open to anyone who wishes to participate, and will be held daily on Tuesday 5 – Friday 8 May inclusive, between 12.00-13.00. Questions can be submitted in advance or during the forum itself, for a panel of expert facilitators to answer in ‘real time’ during the forum.
“We are urging road safety professionals to alert schools and other groups in their local areas, in order to give teachers, parents and others the opportunity to participate in the forums and take advantage of the resources we’ve produced.”
*FOOTNOTE
The road safety stakeholders involved in the UK collaboration in support of UN Global Road Safety Week 2015 are: Road Safety GB (lead organisation), ACPO, AIRSO, Brake, CFOA, CIHT, DoENI, DfT, Highways Agency, PACTS, RoadSafe, Road Safety Analysis, Road Safety Support, Road Safety Wales, RoSPA and Transport Scotland.
I cannot help but think Rod’s quotation of what the children have stated was constructed by a committee of adults based upon questions and answers which themselves may have had multiple answers to help the children “decide” which one sounded right. Will we ever know?
Derek Reynolds, Salop.
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I’m not sure why SKL have singled out speeding and drink driving as factors to address to prevent child deaths. Neither are in the top 10 of factors in collisions where children were injured for, perhaps, obvious reasons. Drivers tend to speed (exceed the speed limit) where the road is clear, not where there are children, and drink driving tends to occur at midnight on Friday and Saturday night. The only mention of alcohol is actually where the children were under the influence.
Dave Finney, Slough
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Most important comment comes from the kids themselves in the declaration:
“Why are thousands of children killed and injured on the roads around the world every single day? Because not enough is being done for our safety and our rights. You, our leaders, need to listen and act by joining our call for action to make sure all children can travel in safety. We all deserve a safe journey to and from school. Roads must be made safe to allow girls and boys to walk safely to school. We ask for safe footpaths and cycle paths, we ask for road bumps to slow the traffic, and we ask for safe crossings so that we can get an education without fear or injury. We call for all vehicles carrying children, anywhere and everywhere in the world, to be safe. All cars and buses should have seatbelts. When children ride with adults on motorcycles and scooters, they must have helmets that can protect them. We know that wearing a helmet or putting on a seatbelt can save lives.
“Drinking and driving is dangerous. Speeding is dangerous. People who care about children should not do these things, no one should. The police should do more to stop
people speeding or drinking and driving. We have a right to be safe all the time – when we’re out with our families, when we’re going to play or to school. Laws must be made, our voices must be heard, and there must be action to make sure roads are safe for all children, all over the world.
“So we call on you, the world’s leaders, to include action against road deaths in the new Sustainable Development Goals. Wherever we live, we have the right to road safety for our friends, our families and ourselves. As children, our voices are not always heard. That is why we are calling on you to amplify our voices and take action to provide us with safe roads now. Please listen and act. Save Kids Lives.”
So really its about how us adults change our behaviour in designing, setting laws and using the roads to make them safer for children.
Rod King, 20’s Plenty for Us
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