YOURS is proud to announce that the first launch of our first publication, the Youth and Road Safety Action Kit will take place at the 5th Latin American and 4th Inter-American Health Promotion and Health Education Conference. Our key partner in the production of this kit, the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) are coordinating the event.

Our Programmes Officer, Ms Nellie Ghusayni has been invited to the 5th Latin American and 4th Inter-American Health Promotion and Health Education Conference to launch and present our new road safety tool; the Youth and Road Safety Action Kit! While Ms Ghusayni cannot physically make the event, tomorrow (Thursday 12th April) will see the presenation of our new Action Kit to some of the world’s top health professionals and educators.

The Inernational Union of Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) were a key partner in the development of the kit alongside the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and of course our long standing supporter and Founding Member Michelin. IUHPE invited YOURS to present the kit to major health professionals of the world at their conference.

The activities of this conference build on the accomplishments of the previous conference in Medellin Columbia in November 2009 which produced the Medellin Declaration. Since 2009 IUHPE have seen increasing global attention and effort in each of the five courses of action for health promotion articulated in that declaration.  The region of the Americas has a great history of contribution to global health promotion thinking and action.

Marie-Claude Lamarre, Executive Director at IUHPE expressed, ‘Improving the health of people and communities, and contributing to a fairer world, we strongly support youth involvement in road safety. As such, YOURS and IUHPE are involved in a number of programmes aimed at reducing road traffic injuries and improving infrastructures environments and behaviors to make road travel safer for all. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has lent its technical assistance and evidence-based strategies to our efforts through the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, and recently declared motor vehicle injury prevention as a “winnable battle”.

The Kit will be available to download officially on Monday 16th April 2012 after our Director, Floor Lieshout presents the Kit to the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration in Washington DC on the same day. You can read more about our launch at the UNRSC in Washington. You can also expect to recieve a newsflash about the Kit to your email. To receive this, you must sign up to our newsletter. You can do this by inputting your email on ‘Sign up to newsletter’ box on the YOURS Homepage.

YOURS would like to thank of our sponsors and partners for supporting the development and production of this kit and we look forward to sharing this with you on Monday!

The 15th United Nations Road Safety Road Safety Collaboration meeting (UNRSC) is taking place on  16-17th April 2012 in Washington DC. The meeting is being hosted by the World Bank and this meeting will be a landmark event for YOURS as we launch our brand new publication, The Youth and Road Safety Action Kit!

About the UNRSC
In April 2004, the United Nations General Assembly resolution A/RES58/289 on “Improving global road safety” invited WHO, working in close cooperation with the United Nations regional commissions, to act as coordinator on road safety issues across the United Nations system. The World Health Assembly accepted this invitation in May 2004 and WHO subsequently set up the UN Road Safety Collaboration (UNRSC) which holds biannual meetings to discuss global road safety issues.

The 15th UNRSC Meeting – a momentous occasion for YOURS
You may have already seen a sneak peak of our Youth and Road Safety Action Kit on Facebook and Twitter but the wait is officially almost over as we will be launching our first publication at the UNRSC. It is indeed a very exciting moment for us as an orgnanization and we are looking forward to the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration picking up our kit and taking it back to their respective organizations. Online, the Kit will be available for download and view electronically and will be officially launched on this date! Excited? We certainly are!

While the launch of the kit is just part of the 15th UNRSC meeting agenda, it is understandably an important slot for us to share our work with the world.

Members and its functions
You can see which members make up the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration, which can be found here. Also you can expect a report and reactions to our Youth and Road Safety Action Kit shortly after the meeting. You can read more about the UNRSC and its functions here.

YOURS recently made contact with Shannon Gwynne, an inspiring young lady who tells the story of her harrowing experience at the hands of a drunk driver. What is more alarming is that the drunk driver was her mother and she was a young passenger of the event. Read Shannon’s story at YOURS.

The following story is written by Shannon Gwynne, who is now 22 years old and tells of her ordeal at the hands of a drink driver. Her story is inspiring and with a clear message.

When I was 7 years old, all I wanted to do was play with my barbies and enjoy my childhood. I never thought that I would be involved in an accident. As a kid with a happy family, I thought I was invincible, like the next super-woman. But that all changed when I was involved in a drinking and driving accident.

My name is Shannon Gwynne and I’m 22 years old. I survived a horrible accident, without permenant damage and I’m here to tell my story.

I grew up with a normal childhood. However, there was one accident that changed my life forever, and it was caused by the woman that loved me most. My mother.

At the time, my family and I were living in Guelph, Ontario. My mother, being a fairly religious person, took us to church in Campbellville, about 30 minutes away. At the time my father, who is a pilot, was working so it was just me, my mother and my 5 year old brother at the time.

Everything seemed to be alright while my mom was driving our mini van down highway 6 towards Hamilton. But even though I was only a child, I noticed something different about my mom. Her speech was slurred, and she was mumbling gibberish. I was in the seat behind her and my brother was in the last set of seats. While driving, she was leaning down between the driver and passenger seat. It looked like she was grabbing something, but I wasn’t sure.

I said to her “mommy, I love you”. And then it happened. She lifted her head up and said, love you too sweetie. I looked up at the road and saw that our van was swerved into the other lane, and coming our way was an 18-wheeler transport truck. We collided head on with the truck and i remember the impact. All I heard was a big crash and then everything went black.

I don’t know how long I was out for, but I knew it wasn’t my time to go. I opened my eyes and first thing I saw was my mom unconcious, her head hanging out the window ( she lived). Next thing I noticed was I couldn’t see my brother. . Emergency crews, police and firefighters were on scene.

Next thing I remember was one of the firefighters holding a stuffed Dalmatian dog up to me and saying ” Come on Shannon, stay with us, talk to me, come on.” I mumbled ” where’s Elliott, where’s my brother?”. He had flew out the window and was on the side of the road. Fortunately, he only suffered a few scratches and bruises.

After that, I don’t really remember much. I was taken to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto, where I was there for 6 days under tight watch. Doctors said it was a miracle I survived, after having the seatbelt cut into my stomach. They said that if I had been sitting in the front seat, there was no chance of survival.

For hours, my dad had no idea if I was alive or dead. He came and stayed with me at the hospital for my entire stay, dressed in his pilot uniform.

I was bed-ridden for a week, with my entire torso as black as this font. I couldn’t walk to the bathroom, so I had to use a bedpan and wheel chair to move around.

15 years later, and I still remember the impact, and how it felt to be holding on to my life.

After the accident, my parent’s marriage fell apart. My parents seperated, and my dad never forgave my mom. For the next while, my mom was getting help from the Homewood Rehab Center and went to AA meetings. But that didn’t stop it.

Alcohol took over my mothers life. While my brother,dad and I thought she was doing well, the past 10 years had been somewhat of a lie. She was secretly drinking still, and I had no idea.

On August 4, 2009, she passed away from unknown causes. She was on numerous medications at the time including antidepressants, anxiety pills and many others. There was also liqour and wine bottles found hidden in her room.

I never got to say goodbye to my mom. I never got to help her. Alcohol destroyed her life, and almost ended mine because of her actions.

I do not wish this to happen to anyone. It was the worst experience I’ve ever had to go to, beginning to end. But God kept me here for a reason. He kept me here for my dad and brother. He kept me here to make my mother proud in my journalism career.

A word of advice for everyone.
Don’t ever get in the car with someone who’s been drinking. Pass the message along to anyone who isn’t aware about the damages it causes. Drinking and driving does not make you cool. There is always a safer route available, never ever drink and drive.

I’m a survivor. Let’s not put anyone else what my family and I had to go through.

What this story tells us
YOURS commends the bravery of Shannon to make a stand against this tragic experience and urge others never to drink and drive. While many believe that they know their own limits with regards to drinking, it is never advisable to drink and drive under any circumstances. The outcome of these events could have been tragic and then we would never have heard this story. Sometimes, people do not realize the risk they put their passengers and themselves under, passengers who are often the most important people to us.

Know the facts about drink driving. While laws differ in countries with regards to drinking and driving, be aware that as young people committed to road safety, we should never endorse or partake in any kind of impaired driving including drink, drugs, medication etc.

Take the pledge to commit to road safety and join Shannon in raising awareness of her cause to put a full stop to drink driving.