The Surreal Poster Series: Key Risk Factors – Part Two: Helmets

The Surreal Poster Series: Key Risk Factors – Part Two: Helmets

by | Nov 25, 2023 | News & Blog

The Surreal Poster Series has been a program that was highly subscribed to. Delegates are able to download the poster series for free, featuring five posters focusing on the five key risk factors in road safety. Now, YOURS is featuring a focus on each poster explaining the risk factor behind each theme. This week, we focus on helmets…

The Youth and Road Safety Action Kit gives a focus on this subject – download it now.

Most injuries resulting from crashes involving motorcycles or bicycles are head injuries. Head injuries that do not result in death may still have a long term impact. In European countries, head injuries contribute to around 75% of deaths among motorcycle users and in some low-income and middle-income countries head injuries are estimated to account for up to 88% of such fatalities.

Helmets are vital because they offer the only protection when you are on motorcycle or bike. The body is totally exposed with no metallic framework for protection and no seatbelt to hold you in your seat and prevent you from being thrown off. Wearing a helmet is the single most effective way of reducing head injuries and fatalities resulting from motorcycle, moped, and bicycle crashes.

Although wearing a helmet makes sense on many levels, some people still try to minimize its importance. Others are also influenced by myths and misconceptions that are absolutely false. For example:

Helmets are just hats so they can’t protect the head
Helmets have four major components that work together to protect your head from injuries: a rigid outer shell, an impact absorbing liner, a comfort padding, face shield, and a retention system to buckle up. So, helmets are way more than hats!

Helmets block your ability to see
Although it might be partially true that full-face helmets reduce your vision when looking down, this is not what matters. What is more important is your ability to see what is happening on your sides, in your peripheral vision. And this is not affected when wearing a helmet. Helmets give you full ability to see what is happening in your surroundings.

Helmets prevent you from hearing dangers
Helmets lower sounds and noises but do not eliminate them. Tests have shown that all sounds can be heard very clearly when wearing a helmet so you do not have to worry about missing any danger signals. Not only that, but helmets actually protect your ears from wind sounds and from ear drum damage at speeds of more than 100km/hr.

There is no point wearing a helmet at low speeds
Even at low speeds, the force at which your head will hit another surface can result in severe injuries.

Its is clear that wearing helmets on motorcycle vehicles is imperative; a helmet could save your life!

Didier Drogba supports global road safety in name of Zenani Mandela

Didier Drogba supports global road safety in name of Zenani Mandela

by | Nov 25, 2023 | News & Blog

Whether you are in the know of the latest transfers, final fixtures or champions league play-offs, there are certain names in the world of football that need little introduction and Didier Drogba is one of them. For those of you that don’t know him however, he is one of the stars of Premier League clubs Chelsea FC and one of the world’s leading goal scorers from Africa. Now, Drogba has pledged support for global road safety raising awareness to millions.

The Zenani Mandela Campaign has been launched by the Mandela Family the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the Make Roads Safe Campaign and the Road Safety Fund.

Chelsea FC and Ivory Coast star striker Didier Drogba has given his support to the Zenani Campaign. Taking time out from a hectic schedule ahead of the UEFA Champions League Final, Drogba took part in a photo-shoot for the campaign.

Pledging support for the Zenani Campaign, Drogba said he wanted to help the Mandela family in their call to improve road safety for children particularly in developing countries. The Ivory Coast national team captain said he had seen the problem first-hand in Africa, where more children aged 5-14 are killed on the roads than from diseases such as HIV/AIDS or Malaria.

Didier Drogba said: “I support the Zenani Campaign because far too many children are being killed on the roads. This is a very important campaign. We need action now to save lives.”

Drogba is a close friend of the Mandela family, meeting Nelson Mandela, the family and his great-granddaughter Zenani, when he was in South Africa in 2009. He has been in regular contact with the family since.

The global campaign calls for a range of measures to protect children including: investment in safe footpaths, cycle-ways and crossings on streets with lower speed limits particularly near schools; proper enforced legislation for child seats and seatbelts around the world, and tougher action to prevent drink driving and speeding; and better helmet protection for children in countries where motorcycles are the main mode of transport. 

Read more about the Zenani Mandela Campaign

Members of the public around the world are being encouraged wear the Zenani wristband and to join the call for improved protection to save children’s lives on the roads worldwide. Globally, road crashes are the number one killer of young people aged 10-24. The campaign is also a ‘Mandela Day’ initiative in honour of Nelson Mandela’s birthday.

A range of high profile figures have backed the Zenani Campaign since it was launched at the beginning of May 2012. They include supermodel Naomi Campbell, sprinter Asafa Powell and members of the Jamaican Olympic team, F1 stars Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Zoleka Mandela supporting YOURS at the launch of the Zenani Madela Foundation in London last year (2011).

The Surreal Poster Series: Key Risk Factors – Part One: Alcohol

The Surreal Poster Series: Key Risk Factors – Part One: Alcohol

by | Nov 25, 2023 | News & Blog

The Surreal Poster Series has been a program that was highly subscribed to. Delegates are able to download the poster series for free, featuring five posters focusing on the five key risk factors in road safety. Now, YOURS is featuring a focus on each poster explaining the risk factor behind each theme. This week, we focus on alcohol…

The Youth and Road Safety Action Kit gives a focus on this subject – download it now.

Alcohol consumption results in a higher crash rate. More alcohol consumptions means even more crashes.

Alcohol affects our behavior and judgment. No person is too skilled, too big, or too clever to avoid the effects alcohol has. The bottom line is: as long as we are human, alcohol will affect our behaviour.

Do you know how alcohol affects your body? Check out the information below for more details.

What is BAC and BAL?

Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) and Blood Alcohol Level (BAL) are measurements that reflect the amount of alcohol in the blood. A BAC of 0.05 means that in every 100 ml of blood there is 0.05 grams of alcohol. Many countries are enforcing BAC limits on drivers to reduce road traffic injuries. Police can stop any driver to check for the BAC. All the driver has to do is breathe into a device called a breathalyzer to know how much alcohol is in his/her blood.

How does alcohol affect driving?

Even small quantities of alcohol have an impact on our driving abilities. Here are some of the effects of alcohol consumption:

  • Poor coordination: having trouble doing more than one thing at a time, having difficulty steering the car

  • Longer reaction time: reacting more slowly when something unexpected happens (a car approaching you from the side, people crossing the street)

  • Poor judgement: having trouble judging your and other people’s behaviour (including speed, distances, movement) and more likely to underestimate risks

  • Reduction in concentration, memory, vision and hearing: focusing only on the road ahead, losing track of what is taking place in your peripheral vision area, missing out on things they see and hear

  • False sense of confidence and overestimation of abilities: feeling more confident and taking risks that we would not usually take. At the same time, our actual abilities and skills are less than they usually are. The combination of reduced ability and more risk taking is particularly dangerous.


Why does this happen?

Alcohol is a nervous system depressant or a “downer”. It has a numbing effect on the brain making it slower and less able to concentrate.

How much can I drink?

To stay safe it is best not to drink at all when you will be driving. Research shows that a single drink increases the risk of death or serious injury by five times.

You do not have to be drunk for alcohol to affect your driving. Your driving abilities will be reduced even if you feel perfectly normal. If you are wake and can hold a conversation with your friends it does not mean that you can drive safely.

Your BAC is more likely to rise at a greater rate if you are a female, a fast drinker, have a low body weight, have not eaten recently, or are drinking highly carbonated drinks such as champagne.

Tips to stay safe:

  • The most simple and straight forward tip: don´t drink alcohol or use drugs while you have to drive.
  • Allow enough time to recover from the affects of alcohol and other drugs.
  • Plan alternative ways to get home before you go out:
    • designate someone who will not drink alcohol,
    • use public transport,
    • catch a taxi,
    • stay the night,
    • ask a parent if it’s possible for them or another adult to pick you up.
  • Have a back up plan so if your original plan doesn’t work out you know what to do.
One year since the Decade of Action – a look at YOURS’ contribution

One year since the Decade of Action – a look at YOURS’ contribution

by | Nov 25, 2023 | News & Blog

It has officially been one full year since we saw the Decade of Action for Road Safety passed at the United Nations General Assembly in New York in May 2011. The Decade calls upon nations, governments, civil society and road safety stakeholders to take action in actively reducing road crashes globally. We take a look back at the Decade’s launch in 2011 and YOURS’ contribution throughout the first year.

In May 2011, some of the world’s most famous landmarks were lit up with the Decade of Action’s logo to mark its launch.

After one since the Decade of Action has launched, there has been significant efforts undertaken to begin ten years of action for road safety. The United Nations Road Safety Collaboration reports that the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 was launched in more than 100 countries, with one goal: to prevent five million road traffic deaths globally by 2020.

Moving from the Global Plan for the Decade to national action, many countries have taken measures towards improving road safety, either by developing national plans for the Decade (e.g. Australia, Mexico, the Philippines); introducing new laws (e.g. Chile, China, France, Honduras); or increasing enforcement of existing legislation (e.g. Brazil, Cambodia, the Russian Federation), among other concrete actions. The recent UN General Assembly resolution on global road safety sponsored by more than 80 countries gives further impetus to the Decade by calling on countries to implement road safety activities in each of the five pillars of the Global Plan.

All around the world there has been significant actions to advocate for the Decade of Action for Road Safety.

In May 2011 – YOURS travelled all the way from Europe to North America to launch the Decade of Action for Road Safety with 450 young people at the OSAID Conference in Toronto Canada. As well as bringing attention to the Decade’s launch, its significant to global road safety, YOURS explained that as the biggest victims of road crashes globally, young people MUST be part of the solution during the Decade and take action to be road safety ambassadors everywhere.

During YOURS’ launch in Canada, we gave out 450 Decade of Action tags that the young people wore throughout their conference on impaired driving.

Since the launch, all of YOURS’ actions have been conducted with the Decade of Action in mind and orientated around its priciples enabling us to contribute to the Decade.

As well as our launch, YOURS has facilitated Regional Youth Assemblies around the world, namely the European Youth Forum for Road Safety, the Middle Eastern Youth Assembly for Road Safety and the African Youth Assembly for Road Safety to mobilize young people around the world to take action for road safety.

YOURS launched the Surreal Poster Series for use during the Decade of Action.

In mobilizing young people around the world for road safety and providing tools and activities on which to unite and be inspired, YOURS also launched its advocacy and awareness activities in line with the Decade of Action. To coincide with the launch, YOURS launched the Surreal Poster Series to download free and use internationally. We also launched two international awareness campaigns.

To build on our capacity development program, YOURS launched this year, the Youth and Road Safety Action Kit! A unique tool to use during the Decade of Action that trains young people on the global road safety crisis and gives them the skills and knowlege to initiate sustainable action. 

Download the Youth and Road Safety Action Kit now!

Finally, building on the kit, YOURS has began its workshops training young people to take action for road safety all around the world. In year, YOURS has initiated a whole host of action orientated activities that have all been operating in the spirit of the Decade of Action. We continue our support of the Decade of Action in the years to come! You can read all of our news and information taken place of the last year here.

Seeing My World through a Safer Lens – calling US creative video makers

Seeing My World through a Safer Lens – calling US creative video makers

by | Nov 25, 2023 | News & Blog

In commemoration of their 20th anniversary, the United States organization, Center for Disease Control have, via their department of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, are hosting a video contest to answer the question, ‘What does Injury and Violence Prevention Look Like in My Community?’. They are calling on creative video makers to address this question by shooting a video through a safer lens.

The “Seeing My World through a Safer Lens” video contest asks injury and violence professionals, students, and the general public to create a short video that shows injury and violence prevention in their neighborhood, community, state, or region. The contest is United States based and is a chance for creative video makers to put their skills to a cause that has the potential to save many lives.

Individuals or teams  can choose one video category to submit a video:  (1) Student View, (2) Community View, (3) Injury and Violence Professional View. Participants or teams may submit multiple videos — but each video can only be nominated and awarded in one (1) category.

While CDC focus their work on a range of areas, we encourage our global youth network to take part in the vehicle and motor safety category which is a chance to showcase your video making skills in a creative solution to road safety.

Here’s how you can enter:

  • Sign up for a Challenge.gov account at the top of this page
  • Become a follower of the Seeing My World through a Safer Lens Video Contest
  • Review the rules and guidelines of this Challenge (Found under the Rules tab)
  • Registered Contestant should submit video that is 90 seconds or less, and use one or more of the injury and violence topics to share messages on injury and violence prevention in your community
  • All submissions must be in English
  • Be sure to provide
    • Title of Video
    • Injury and Violence Prevention Topic
    • Your Entry Category (Injury and Violence Professional, Student, or General Public)
    • A link to your video on YouTube


The Vehicle and Motor Safety Category focuses on the following topics:

For each category of the video contest, one prize will be awarded.

  • General Public View – $500.00
  • Student View- $500.00
  • Injury and Violence Professional View- $500.00

You can read all about the contest here!

Brian’s Column: Visibility of all road users shouldn’t be a debate in Africa

Brian’s Column: Visibility of all road users shouldn’t be a debate in Africa

by | Nov 25, 2023 | News & Blog

Every month, Brian writes his column on road safety issues in Africa. Brian is a road safety activist, campaigner and public health peer educator give his column a candid insight into the world of youth and road safety issues in Africa. This month, Brian draws upon his experience of a public level debate on the use of reflectors in the night in Uganda, a debate that is common sense but where some place a political agenda on the subject. Read more here!

Hello once again…this year seems to be on a rock n roll marathon. Sounds like it’s being chased by Usain Bolt himself, but yes…I think it would be awesome if we had a competitor like in the movie ‘The Dictator 2012’ ‘le dictateur 2012’. If you have watched it, please do before it’s your judgment day …but, I bring you another judgment topic this time on our visibility while on the road. Now, ladies and gentlemen, what do you do before going out to a party or something? We all know that we go in front of the mirror, check out the attire we are planning to dress in. Oh, and the girls take 3+ hours preparing themselves up, so I hear…then the boys are worried about their beard style etc..Rastas (except myself) are worried about their dread locks and Turbans LOL

On a typical African rural road, lamps and lights have not been installed making low visibility on the road a hazard.

Now, not to be sounding like a new school course to you but seeing and being seen are fundamental prerequisites for the safety of all road users. Inadequate visibility is an important factor that influences the risk of a road crash among all types of road users: In developing countries which are heavily deployed in Africa, inadequate visibility plays an important role in at least three types of crash that I have noticed: 

  • At night, vehicles that run into the rear or sides of slowly moving or stationary vehicles; I have been in a car and what I see in front is something like a torch flash, so, you think it’s like a motorcycle only to find it’s a trailer when you are a few meters away, very dangerous with limited stopping time. You will agree with me, that’s how a lot of accidents happen at night. 

  • During the day, angled or head-on collisions; then, we have seen Michael-Schumacher-wannabes. Those are dudes who twist and bend their cars on the road like Michael Jackson doing the moon-walk. Weird for me to say, those drivers are aged less than 30 years,-where of course many of us fall! Their reckless driving and lack of responsibility is causing many crashes. 

  • At all times, rear-end collisions often occur in poor weather conditions. In annoying weather conditions characterized by fog, smoke, darkness, fumes where our eyes can’t see far in front of the car. Even pedestrians can’t judge effectively their distance and that of the car. You have also heard about collisions being caused by animals crossing the road…

In Africa, road safety is becoming an issue gathering more attention and road safety debates are being placed on the agenda.

At all times, rear-end collisions often occur in poor weather conditions. In annoying weather conditions characterized by fog, smoke, darkness, fumes where our eyes can’t see far in front of the car. Even pedestrians can’t judge effectively their distance and that of the car. You have also heard about collisions being caused by animals crossing the road…

In low-income and middle-income countries, the poor visibility of pedestrians and vehicles is a serious problem, serious problem, I repeat! The mix of motorized and non-motorized traffic, together with poor street lighting (where it exists), increases the risk of unprotected road users not being seen. Non-use of low-cost interventions such as bicycle lamps or reflective equipment, reflective clothes exacerbates already unsafe conditions.

On 4th May 2012, I had a chance to facilitate at the Ministry of Works and Transport in Uganda about the use of light reflectors on motor cars, motor cycles, cyclists, pedestrians and wheel barrow pushers. The audience was representative with a blend of political leaders, civil society organizations, and victims of road crashes, motorcars, motorcycles and bicycle associations. Then of course, there were youth associations.

Brian’s gives us an insight into his experience at the African Ministerial conference.

According to it, bicycle riders who will be found without lights and reflectors beyond 6.00pm face a fine of sh40, 000 or one month in jail or both upon conviction. Similarly, motorcycle riders and other motorists driving at night without reflectors and lights face a fine of sh500, 000 or a one-year sentence or both. While riding bicycles in the dark, (6.00pm to 6.00am), riders should have a lit lamp fitted to the front as well as a clear red light and a reflector on the rear mudguard. A reflector (white, red or yellow stripes) on the vehicle/motorcycle must be fitted to an immovable part of the vehicle and it must not be obscured in any way. The new regulations are contained in Statutory Instrument 2012 that works and Transport Minister Eng. James Byandala signed on February 13, 2012.

According to the works and Transport Ministry, the regulations are aimed at bringing down the number of rampant road collisions caused by ill-equipped vehicles on the roads. “A reflector on motor vehicles or trailers shall be fitted to ensure that during darkness, it reflects the light of another vehicle projected on it so as to be clearly visible to the driver of the vehicle”, according to guidelines from the ministry. Only vehicles that by their construction and adjustment have lamps that diffuse or direct their light as to prevent any glare and those prescribed or permitted by the ministry’s chief mechanical engineer will be exempted from bearing reflectors. The regulations also require motorists to always have a pair of triangular reflectors as emergency signs that they will be required to place on the road both in front and behind the vehicle in a distance in case of any breakdown.
 

Low visibility on Africa’s roads due to low weather and so forth makes the use of reflectors for visibility extra important.

Everything went on smoothly until; the permanent secretary to the ministry gave a chance for every representative to make their reactions. While there was around of applause from the audience, I was shocked to hear some complaints regarding procuring reflectors, whether the police will be very active in this whole process?, who would monitor the whole process?, whether this campaign will fail or not, whether the campaign is a political move…a lot of complaints really. There were also complaints about the high penalty fees…

From the presentations which looked at behavioral change, the effectiveness of reflectors and my presentation which supported the ‘Road Safety Begins With You’ principle, it looked evident that the best thing everyone would do at that time would be to accept the programme! It is typical of us to always run away from responsibility. We want to blame the government, the police, the ambulance services, the weather, the gods..eish! In a country where sixty percent of the crashes occur at night, a figure that claimed 32,000 mortalities in 2011, I see no fuss on making all road users safe! Oh, and to hell with motorists who want to politicize the regulation on baseless grounds as it is intended for the safety of all road users, we need to break the political agenda that some wish to place on safety and saving lives!

While road safety is increasing in Africa, there is still much needed efforts required especially to involve young people in road safety.

Much respects to the youth associations which even demanded an increment in the penalty fees! #Staysafe