YOURS in the media! Share your local stories about our work together

YOURS in the media! Share your local stories about our work together

by | Dec 12, 2023 | News & Blog

We have recently compiled a list of international and local media features from around the world in our collaborative efforts for road safety. Many of the news stories have been generated by news outlets who have placed the spotlight on youth and road safety issues as they have arisen on national media features around the globe. You can see them here as well as submit your own stories.

Since our inception in late 2009, YOURS has been working all around the world to bring road safety to young people on the ground. In the process, many media outlets have picked up on our collaborative efforts and we have recently compiled these features.

If you have been involved in a YOURS project that generated local or national media and it is not in the list, please share it with us!

It’s really easy for your to share your YOURS media features. Just drop an email with a link or scan of the article to manpreet@youthforroadsafety.org and we will feature it on this page. You can seen some of our features below:

 

Focus on Belize Workshop – Media Tour and beyond 2014

2014: Channel5 News: Belize Youth for Road Safety launch road safety competition

2014: Patrick Jones Belize: Road Safety session held at UB-Toledo Campus

2014: Plus TV: Belize Youth and Road Safety Capacity Building Project Graduates 19

2014:  Caribbean Development Bank: Belize’s CDB-funded Youth and Road Safety Capacity Building Project Kicks Off

2014: The Guardian Belize: GOB and CDB launches Youth and Road Safety Capacity Building Project

2014: Patrick Jones Belize: Belize youth get training in road safety

2014: San Pedro Sun: Media outreach for Belize workshop

International Media:

2014: Snap 2 Live: Partnership with YOURS

2014: Akili Iniatiave: 5 Health Issues Youth Care about for Post-2015: Reflections from the World Conference on Youth 2014 in Colombo, Sri Lanka

2014: A1 Driving School: Focus on YOURS

2013: Caribbean Development Bank: VYBZING Youth Forum on Road Safety

2013: Caribbean Development Bank: CDB to Engage St. Lucian Youth on Road Safety

2013: Road Safe (UK) Feature on the work of YOURS

2013: World Health Organization: Using social media to rally the support of young people for road safety worldwide

2012: European Commission: Fourth European Road Safety Day

2012: World Bank: How youth can help create awareness

2012: United Nations Environment Programme: Share the Road Activities in Kenya

2012: International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE): Indexing of YOURS Action Kit

2012: Road Safety Observatory: Indexing of YOURS Action Kit

2012: Road Safety Great Britain (GB): YOURS Launches Youth and Road Safety Action Kit

2012: Alberta Center for Injury Control and Research: Launch of Youth and Road Safety Action Kit for young people

2012: Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA): Toolbox goes global

2012: Road Safety Fund feature on YOURS’ Surreal Poster Series

2012: Inter-American Development Bank feature on YOURS’ Surreal Poster Series

2012: Huffington Post article on, ‘Headphones and Road Safety’, YOURS Quoted

2012: Children Safety Network: Focus on YOURS

2011: Global Road Safety Parnternship (GRSP): Together we can save millions of young lives on the world’s roads

2011: Inter-American Development Bank – Youth Day Calgary Feature

2010: Make Road Safe: Youth NGO supports Make Road Safe Campaign

2010: BBC World Service: Should talking on cellphones including handsfree be banned when driving?

2010: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent: Road safety – The Gambian Experience

International Blogs

Journalist Manolis Andiotakis, reports on 4th EYFRS

Volunteering in Serres MEDIART on YOURS involvement at Muscat Youth Summit

Public Health Concern Blog, Mr Brian Mwebaze (YOURS Columnist) 

Driving ‘selfies’ – a dangerous trend that could end your life

Driving ‘selfies’ – a dangerous trend that could end your life

by | Dec 12, 2023 | News & Blog

The dangerous nature of distracted driving is well documented. More recently, the trend of ‘selfies’ has also shot up amongst young people sharing pictures on social media. Did you know that some people are even doing this behind the wheel? A new report from the car maker Ford reveals shocking statistics.

It’s illegal and incredibly dangerous so would you take a “selfie” while driving? According to a new Ford survey, one in four young drivers has done just that. Ford quizzed 7,000 smartphone users aged 18-24 from across Europe to get a clear picture of smartphone misuse behind the wheel.

And the results showed that while one in four has snapped a quick self-portrait on the go, while a quarter have also posted images on social media sites while driving.

Watch the ‘Surprisingly Dangerous History of the Selfie’ on Youtube.

The survey also revealed that Brits are the worst offenders and that young men are more likely to risk taking a quick pic than young women. For more survey results and some stats on driver distraction, check out the infographics and videos below.

Read the original story by Ford Social here.

Brians Column: The role of African young people in road safety

Brians Column: The role of African young people in road safety

by | Dec 12, 2023 | News & Blog

Brian’s column is back this month, this time reporting back from 3rd Global Road Safety Partnership Africa Seminar that was held from 10th-14th August 2014 at Southern Sun Hotel, Cape Town (South Africa). In this edition, he offers his insight into the role of young people in Africa and how they can contribute to road safety.

Feel, Go & Get Mad!

When I was asked by GRSP to see if I could participate in Session Four of the seminar on 13 August 2014 and present a paper on the topic: The role of African young people in promoting road safety, a zillion questions bombarded my (soon to be ) bald head. Zeroing down to the real questions, I asked the organizers: How much time shall I be given? As you could have experienced, if a young person/child is killed on the road, the event is run as a newsbulletin on radio or TV, the victim is buried, a lot of speeches are said but sadly, nothing is done on the blackspot where such an incidence happened.

Brian with seminar organising team finalizing the training programme and social media agenda: With Top African Road Safety Advocates Bright (ASIRT-Kenya) and Caro Smith (SADD-South Africa) Brian with seminar organising team finalizing the training programme and social media agenda: With Top African Road Safety Advocates Bright (ASIRT-Kenya) and Caro Smith (SADD-South Africa)

Very rarely have we forced extra pressure on community, municipal or district authorities to do something. As usual (with due respect), the police will be investigating. The life of the victim isn’t quantified and qualitified into the value that the community or society has lost! At the (global) continent level, young people are faced with innate and structural challanges as stated by YOURS:

  • A lack of awareness and recognition in the world of the vulnerable position of young people in traffic.
  • A lack of Africa-level (National) coordination and collaboration among youth and youth-led NGO’s and their road safety initiatives.Youth road safety initiatives remain small-scaled and scattered.
  • A lack of one strong voice to advocate on the behalf of youth and road safety.
  • A lack of resources for youth road safety programmes.
  • A lack of a next generation of leaders who are passionate about road safety and involved in decision making within the road safety field at the community level
  • A lack of capacity building. Road safety knowledge and best practices from youth initiatives are not shared in a broader network. Besides this, programmes targeting youth and road safety are commonly not evidence-based

2014 is the third year of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2014) with the love of my life -Africa Region still having some of the jaw dropping rates of road traffic deaths globally! Right now, kindly don’t get bored by this statement:-Road Traffic Crashes are the leading cause of death for young people aged 15-30. However, young people are not the only victims of road crashes. In the 10 years of the Decade, some youths will have grown into leadership positions and will be able to influence policy decisions and implementation of technology. Now, you know why the 3rd Africa Road Safety Seminar was dedicated, to the safety of children and youths in the urban environment of our cities.

So, when I opened up the presentation with ‘The only way to express our impatience over the sluggish forward movement of the attempts to curb the road safety problem is to feel, go and get mad’, there was a ‘this-looks-like fun laughter’ in the audience. The presentation covered 6 major subthemes on Advocating for youth related road safety issues at village level, in a school, nationally and regionally, Connecting young people and youth-led NGO’s active in the road safety field around the region, so they can work together and easily share information and experiences, Building capacity among youth in the road safety field using YOURS Road Safety Tool Kits etc, Working with policy/decision makers/ private partners, Working with victims of road crashes and their families, Working with the media, Conducting research and having it connected to the Global Youth and Road Safety Research Hub!

The point is:

  • The role of young African people in promoting road safety is as wide as our ability to translate awareness into action. It’s time to utilize all the chances to raise our voices, talk about it even at church/mosque/ toilet everywhere: FEEL MAD
  • We must embrace our creativity coupled by passion to do something over the leading cause of death amongst young people worldwide: say Draw cartoons, paint, design T-shirts, personalize your car with road safety messages: GO MAD
  • And ofcourse no one is gonna kill you for asking for alittle help over event organising, a training workshop, an essay writing competition, traditional dance/edutainment , So get to people, communities, banks, churches etc and Create a road safety madness :GET MAD!

Wishing you a safe month from Melbourne where I am attending and presenting at the Guidelines International Network Seminar on Prehospital Care in Developing countries.

But wait, that’s another story (winks) @BrianBilalK1

ISO – NextGen tackling road safety kicks off with first webinar

ISO – NextGen tackling road safety kicks off with first webinar

by | Dec 12, 2023 | News & Blog

YOURS has recently partnered with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for their NextGen programme which focuses on youth and road safety issues. Road accidents are the #1 killer of young people world- wide. ISO NextGen – Road safety is looking for the next generation of experts to discuss the major challenges in this field and how International Standards might help. It has a sister project, ISO NextGen – Climate change, with similar aims.

These are brand new projects for ISO and they are all about reaching out to a wider community of young professionals to discuss today’s hot topics. This workshop (webinar) marks the kick-off of ISO’s online community for the next generation of road safety experts, who will discuss the major challenges in this field and how International Standards can help.

Speakers lined up include:
Assoc. Prof Gord Lovegrove (Uni. of British Columbia) will give an overview of the scale of the problem and discuss evaluating levels of safety and sustainable road safety strategies.

Kathleen Elsig from the International Road Federation will focus on building safer road infrastructure, whether there is such a thing as a ‘safe’ road, and how we can promote safer roads.

Mathew Gatt from BP will give us the perspective of a big corporation whose business revolves around road use. He will share with us the ways BP addresses the challenges on risks and responsibilities related to road safety.

The first ISO online webinar discussing road safety (Google Hangout) can be viewed by clicking the image or viewing it in the right column.

What do I have to do as part of the project?

  • Be an active member of an online community using a platform to share ideas (via blogs, discussion forums, polls, etc.) and collaborate on a document outlining how International Standards can help to address the most pressing challenges in road safety. The platform will be open for 6 weeks starting from August 4.
  • Attend online events to open and close the 6 week period where guest speakers will discuss their ideas.
  • Explore how international solutions,such as International Standards, should be developed in the future.

  1. Can anyone get involved?

We’d like to hear from young professionals who repre- sent the future generation and are not already involved in standardization work.

The ideal profile for our participants is:

  • 25 – 35 years old
  • Qualifications – a formal qualification from a higher educational institution related to the subject area
  • Experience–5 years of professional experience in the subject area
  • Little to no involvement in national or international standardization activities
  • Demonstrated passion and vision for the subject area – takes initiative, thinks innovatively and influences others
  • However, if you are interested in getting involved and you don’t exactly fit these criteria, do let us know!

What will I get out of it?

Participation in ISO NextGen – Road Safety will help you:

  • Make contacts and interact with other passionate experts in your field of expertise
  • Make contacts with established international experts (from ISO committees and working groups)
  • Learn from guest speakers who will participate in the online events
  • Bring your ideas to a wider, international community
  • Influence the future of standardization in the sector and make a contribution to solving the most important global challenge in your field of expertise
  • Contribute to raising the visibility of the issue of road safety at the international level

If you are interested in participating in the ISO NextGen – Road safety online community, please send an email with a few words about your motivation and a copy of your CV to Katie Bird (bird@iso.org).

Take part in Project Yellow Light and win! – South America and Caribbean

Take part in Project Yellow Light and win! – South America and Caribbean

by | Dec 12, 2023 | News & Blog

Our friends at the Inter American Development Bank (IADB) have launched a new project entitled, ‘Project Yellow Light’ calling on Spanish young people in South America and the Caribbean to take part in a video making contest on distracted driving with a chance to win $2000. The light yellow LAC project is a short film competition designed to encourage a change of attitude among young drivers in Latin America and the Caribbean.

MAKE A VIDEO. WIN A PRIZE. SAVE A LIFE.

The project is calling on Spanish speaking youth to take part, information here has been translated into English. Read the Spanish version here.

Participate in our competition and you could win up to $2,000. This contest is designed to motivate, persuade, and encourage other young people to drive without distractions. The light yellow LAC project is a short film competition designed to encourage a change of attitude among young drivers in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is based on “Project Yellow Light” created by the parents of Hunter Garner, a teenager who died in the U.S. in a traffic accident in 2007. Since its inception, this initiative has had great impact at the national level. The participants, aged between 18 and 30 years of age in Latin America and the Caribbean, are invited to produce short (from 25 to 55 seconds) videos to encourage his generation to drive safely.

The competition is sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB – BID) The Federation International De L’Automobile (FIA) and MTV.

To participate send your video and fill out the registration form we sent you. As a contestant, you can play a key role in spreading this important message. Only you have the ability to go to other young people of your generation of a more direct and effective way, that adults cannot, and thus let them know the tragic consequences that may result in sending a text message while driving and the risk of other similar behavior. This is a unique opportunity to make your voice to be heard and to promote safety and good habits in your community. Remember that while more people it impacts, more lives are saved.

Geared at primarily a Spanish, youth are encouraged to create a video on distracted driving.

Rules and terms of the contest

  • Send us your video together with your contact details before 10 October 2014. Registrations after the deadline will not be accepted. Don’t wait until the last minute!
  • The finalists will be notified on 20 September 2014 and will be chosen based on the criteria contained in the request. Winners will be chosen and subsequently announced after 10 October.
  • The winning video will be selected by the yellow light project partners, i.e. FIA Region 4, IDB, MTVLA, etc.
  • All videos will become property of the yellow light project in order to promote safe driving. We ask this in order to promote safe driving to a wider audience and attract great attention to this important issue. There is also the possibility that show the videos of the finalists on our website or through other digital platforms. We hope to share this message with young people in the region.
  • The length of the videos is limited to exactly 25 seconds or just 55 seconds.
  • All material must have a resolution of at least 720 x 480. If possible, he recorded with an HD camera. When you use a cell phone or a Tablet, be sure to record the images horizontally.
  • Please keep all the material you recorded during the making of your film. If your video is chosen as the winner, this will be converted into a public service announcement. Keep in mind that throughout the filming must be recorded as a relay. To ensure this, it uses the following criteria during the shoot:
  • Any entry with images of a person texting while driving will be accepted!
  • Videos must be exact length of 25 to 55 seconds. If your video is selected as a winner to be distributed as a public service announcement, we will add a box 05 seconds at the end.

Find our more and how to take part here (Spanish)

CORE Group Rep delivers workshop at 63rd IFMSA General Assembly

CORE Group Rep delivers workshop at 63rd IFMSA General Assembly

by | Dec 12, 2023 | News & Blog

YOURS CORE Group Representative for South East Asia Dr Naren Nallapeta is a trained surgeon and a member of the International Federation of Medical Students’ Association (IMFSA), the biggest association of medication professionals around the world. He is also passionate about road safety and on the basis of this, attended the 63rd IMFSA General Assembly in Taiwan, Province of China, with the mission of sharing road safety.

Written by Dr. Naren Nallapeta, Coordinator of the South East Asia Region of the CORE Group.

It is of great pleasure to have attended the 63rd General Assembly of IFMSA this past week in Taipei, Taiwan, Province of China, where inspired delegates from more than 98 countries were there. The meeting was just wonderful with inspired youth from the medical fraternity were there to discuss the problems of the world. The theme for this General Assembly was ‘Sustainable Development for the New Era’ and externals from various organizations came in to discuss the issue with the delegates.

Naren delivering a session on road safety to the IMFSA during SCOPH sessions.

As a part of the same, I got a chance to represent YOURS and also brainstorm with various other medical students and youth regarding road safety and its impact in the world scenario. I got a session to facilitate in the SCOPH (Standing Committee of Public Health) Sessions on 7th morning.

The session began at 8:30 AM with more than 80 SCOPH participants who are active in public health issues in their respective countries. It was a very interactive and productive session with active participation from all the national representatives. The topic of discussion was ‘Scope of the Problem’!! Here the issue of road safety is a problem of the world was discussed and a fruitful discussion went on regarding the risk factors determining road traffic accidents, why is road traffic accidents the highest cause of mortality in the youth and so on.

All participants were given a chance to think and come up with the 5 main factors leading to road traffic accidents. The Decade of Road Safety and the pillars of the same were discussed too in depth. Special attention and discussion took place in the Post-trauma care and emergency medical services.

There was a great disparity in the arrival of emergency medical services in different countries where countries in the African region and the Asian Subcontinent had a diverse answer and did not have a concrete time within which the emergency services would reach the crash site.

Naren with a range of participants discussing all things health and road safety.

Most of the countries do not have a comprehensive emergency training in their undergraduate level in the area of post-trauma care, advanced life support and everyone felt that it must be made compulsory and a part of the medical curriculum worldwide.

Overall many solutions were discussed for this worldwide problem and the importance of care was spread to all. Take home message was for each of us to take a little more care in their lives as each and every one of us are at risk on roads in our daily lives and being a preventable cause of death must be more emphasized and care to be taken by people all around the world.  

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This update was provided by Dr Naren Nallapeta – Coordinator of the South East Asia Region at YOURS.