In our mission to always be relevant and useful to our Youth Network for Road Safety, we have teamed up with key researcher Ms Kalkidan Mulugeta to create a new Global Youth and Road Safety Research Hub. This hub will compile data from around the world on youth and road safety topics compiling an international resource point of journals, studies, research and case studies.

Sixt have launched a brand new drink driving awareness campaign. Their aim is to provide our customers and the wider public with a much clearer understanding of the true dangers involved with mixing alcohol and driving, as well as explaining in detail the limits, the laws, and the effects that alcohol can have on the body.

What are the limits?
The effect alcohol can have on a person’s body is dependent on many different factors, including:

•     Your weight
•     Your gender
•     The amount of food consumed
•     Your age
•     Your body’s ability to process alcohol 

The best advice we can give, however, is to avoid alcohol completely if you are planning on getting behind the wheel. The effects of alcohol can depend on so many different factors that one can never truly judge how badly they have been affected. Once alcohol has entered your system your motor system will be slowed, causing a delay in reaction time and judgement.

What are the laws?
In the UK the laws on drink driving are very clear, although this doesn’t always deter people from getting behind the wheel after they have exceeded the legal limits. The alcohol limit for drivers is 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, 35mcg per 100ml of breath or 107mg per 100ml of urine. Drivers caught over the legal limit can face a minimum 12 month ban and a fine of up to £5,000 – so just ask yourself ‘Is it worth it?’.

To help promote their campaign and spread awareness, Sixt has produced a short animated film entitled ‘A cocktail for disaster’ in which a seemingly fun and hopeful night out takes a turn for the worse and ends in sorrow and despair. The clear message we are trying to send is that when alcohol is involved you can never truly judge how badly you have been affected. The best advice is to always steer clear of alcohol when you plan to get behind the wheel. When you plan to drink it is always best to arrange alternative means of transport such as a taxi, taking the bus, or designating a 100% sober driver.

Communications Officer at YOURS, Mr Manpreet Darroch said, ‘It is great to see a commercial company such as Sixt taking the initiative to use their industry presence to promote the road safety cause. They have put together a great video to focus on the dangers of drink driving, we support this drive to raise road users’ awareness of drink driving’s negative effects’.

Find out more about the campaign here.

In our mission to always be relevant and useful to our Youth Network for Road Safety, we have teamed up with key researcher Ms Kalkidan Mulugeta to create a new Global Youth and Road Safety Research Hub. This hub will compile data from around the world on youth and road safety topics compiling an international resource point of journals, studies, research and case studies.

As the phrase goes, ‘There’s no point in reinventing the wheel’ and this is very true when it comes to forumlating new ideas, new solutions to pressing issues and new ways of tackling the public health problems we face on a daily basis. So when it comes to road safety, with our combined mission of saving lives, its always a good start to see what is already out there, which information exists on the topic and how a particular issue was or could be tackled.

We know that sometimes it can be difficult to find out what already exists in the world, especially in terms of road safety research, academic resources, case studies and journals. This is one of the reasons why YOURS has teamed up with key researcher Ms Kalkidan Mulugeta, Public Health Initiatives Research Associate and Master in Public and Community Health to create an international research hub focusing on road safety issues relating to youth categorized by the Regions of the CORE Group.

Kalkidan explains, My role will be to effectively contribute to the building of the research arm at YOURS. Worldwide, injuries and fatalities that result from Road Crashes are on the rise while the causes are multifaceted.

I’m drawn to Road Safety for various reasons; as a public health researcher who hails from a developing country, I understand that Road Crashes impact the rate of economic growth, this is evidenced from the 18-49 age bracket of people who are at the highest risk of death from a Road Crash, and represent the working class.

Developing a research hub for Road Safety is essential for information exchange, awareness and improving best practice. I believe that a research hub will improve and enhance the advocacy on the ground, in addition, it will capture Road Safety work that is often underreported. I envision an online space to share current research, and exchange work from our Road Safety peers. I’m looking forward to joining YOURS, and believe that my passion and YOURS’ vision aligns in connecting, and highlighting the academic work done by fellow peers in Road Safety.

More details about the Global Research Hub will be made available shortly.

We are very happy to announce that we have officially joined Partnership on Sustainable Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT), a multi-stakeholder partnership of over 80 organizations (representing UN organizations, Multilateral and Bilateral development organizations, NGOs and Foundations, Academe and the Business Sector). SLoCaT promotes the integration on sustainable transport in global policies on sustainable development and climate change.

Transport-related CO2 emissions are projected to increase 57% worldwide in the period 2005–2030. Transport in Asia and Latin America is fastest growing sector in terms of emissions and will contribute the largest share of global increase in transport-related CO2 emissions. At the same time in 2005, 40% of people lived on less than $2 per day (World Bank Development Indicators 2008). Better transport systems in the developing countries are needed to provide better access to jobs, markets, schools and health care.

The current process of motorization in developing countries is expected to result in a manifold increase in motor vehicles between now and 2050. Apart from causing an increase in GHG emissions transport in developing countries also causes congestion and in contributing to air pollution, accidents and a general decrease in the quality of life in many of the cities in developing countries.

The thematic scope of the Partnership is on land transport in developing countries and includes freight and passenger transport. Both motorized and non-motorized transport is included. The geographical scope of the Partnership is developing countries. The Partnership will initially focus on Asia, Latin America  and Africa.

The Partnership has as its overarching goal to mobilize global support to reduce the growth of GHG emissions generated by land transport in developing countries by promoting more sustainable, low carbon transport. The partnership has four specific objectives:

• The integration of sustainable, low carbon transport in climate negotiations, as well as national and local climate policies and programs,
• The integration of climate considerations in regional, national and local transport policies
• Mainstream Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport in strategies and operations of international development organizations
• Contribute to sustainable development and the millennium development goals especially providing access to or for goods and services by lower income groups.

Last week, our CORE Group Representative for South America, Mr Daniel Cano attended the  prestigious World Urban Forum 7 (WUF) in Medellin, Colombia representing YOURS with the mission of bringing the global road safety cause to the table. He has written a report for YOURS and we share it with you here.

Hi everyone. The past week I had the opportunity to attend at one of the most important events in the definition of the future of urban development: the World Urban Forum 7 (WUF). The WUF is a non-legislative event dedicated to sharing ideas on the future of cities, organized by UNHABITAT. This WUF was dedicated to the preparation of the HABITAT III. The Third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (HABITAT III) will be held in 2016 to draft the new urban development agenda for the next 20 years.

Some inputs of Road Safety in the debate
Most of the discussion was dedicated to the subjects of urban equity and sustainable development, but the issue of Road Safety was in some cases part of the debate. The Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz mentioned the need to create livable cities that include a safe interaction with the streets. He considered that urban design is the best way to create safety and equity.

Following the same idea, the Canadian Institute of Planers talk about the importance to build safe and friendly sidewalks in order to create healthier communities. The idea is that nice and welcoming sidewalks reduce the risk of car crashes and cardiovascular disease. In consequence future cities should be planned by implementing walking as the main transportation method

The Urban Youth Assembly
As part of he WUF7, the 6 Urban Youth Assembly was also held. This is the leading global platform for youth on issues of sustainable urbanization. The 6th assembly’s theme was “Youth and The New Urban Agenda”. Once again road safety originally was not considered an important topic, most of the debate focused around youth participation and sustainable development. Nevertheless eventually the subject was considered and at the final draft of the Youth declaration, Road Safety was included as an important concern for youth. 

As a side event, the organizations colectivo 2600 and Ciudad Verde from Bogota, decided to do a do a creative painting of a pedestrian crossing. With this idea they wanted to build awareness on the importance of pedestrian crossings and road safety.

For more information about this event, you can contact Mr Daniel Cano – Coordinator of the South American Region

Last week, the United Nations convened for the 19th Road Safety Collaboration Meeting (UNRSC) followed by the meeting of the General Assembly. Global action to combat a growing worldwide epidemic road deaths and injuries must become part of the UN’s new priorities for development, the UN General Assembly was told on 10 April as it passed a new Resolution to address the crisis.

Speaking at the UN, Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, Chair of the Commission for Global Road Safety, called for renewed action to save lives on the roads around the world. He was joined by global road safety ambassador, actress Michelle Yeoh, who also addressed the UN General Assembly as it passed a new Resolution to improve global road safety.

Lord Robertson, who was representing the UK Government during the UN debate, called for urgent global support for the Decade of Action: “We have not come as far as many of us hoped, or expected,” he told the UN.

“In 2010, when the General Assembly established the Decade of Action, more than a hundred countries endorsed the objective of stabilising and then reducing road deaths by 2020. But we have not yet seen the levels of international cooperation, political leadership or resourcing necessary to achieve this. This new Resolution recognises the Commission for Global Road Safety’s call for a target for reducing road deaths to become part of the new development goals. Such a global commitment is vital to save millions of lives around the world.”

The new Resolution calls for a global Ministerial conference to be held in 2015 to assess progress of the Decade of Action for Road Safety. The Government of Brazil has offered to host the Ministerial. The Resolution also asks the WHO to plan a Global Road Safety Week in 2015 on the theme of children and road safety.

The new UN Resolution encourages Governments to consider road safety when negotiating the post-2015 development goals. The Commission is calling for a specific global target to reduce road fatalities by 50% to be included in the new Sustainable Development Goals. This would be consistent with the objectives of the Decade of Action for Road Safety.

Michelle Yeoh, Global Road Safety Ambassador and a member of the Commission, spoke on behalf of Malaysia. She called for further global support for the solutions which have been proven to save lives in countries irrespective of income level.

“We need new sources of funding to support road safety campaign. And we need new momentum in support of our shared objective for the Decade of Action, beginning with inclusion of road safety in the post-2015 goals.”

The Resolution also calls further progress to be made in implementing the Decade of Action in a range of key areas. These include:

• additional funding for activities, including through contributions to the Road Safety Fund established by the World Health Organization and the FIA Foundation;
• further implementation of NCAP crash test programmes as being promoted by the Global New Car Assessment Programme;
• encouraging member states to implement national plans on road safety, with emphasis on protecting vulnerable road users and promoting sustainable mobility.

The UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 aims to reduce road deaths and injuries across the world with a five pillar Global Plan. More than 1.2 million people die every year on the world’s roads, and up to 50 million are injured.The World Health Organization, which reports on the Decade of Action, has shown that while some progress on road safety has been made particularly in high income countries, many low and middle income countries are facing increasing levels of injury and fatality on their roads. Developing countries account for 90% of the global total of road deaths.

At the UNRSC Meeting, YOURS shared information about our recent updates and news from the world of youth and road safety including our successful inception mission for our next Capacity Development Training in Belize and updates on the push for road safety to be including in the youth sides of the Post-2015 Agenda.