Considering that Russia counts 83 regions, this event is a unique conference on road safety within the country reaching such a huge number of provinces in the same time.

Amongst the participants were standing representatives of Driving Schools, of awareness NGOs, of the Parliament (State Duma) and of the Federation Council (Government), an international delegation representing Belgium, Austria, Moldova, Abkhazia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, several members of the Road Traffic Safety Commission, major international Centers for driver training, the media, some education management Bodies experts and Road Traffic Safety State Inspection under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and of course, last but not least, our global NGO: YOURS.

With much motivation and desire to bring MAASH all the relevant pieces of information to enable the, to join YOURS and build a Russian network. Axl defined in collaboration with MAASH preset objectives regarding YOURS involvement into this brilliant and fantastic initiative:

► Create a unique and strong core within a Russian network of active youngsters fighting for a better road safety. More importantly, on this huge territory the core will be modeled on the European Youth Forum experience and linked to YOURS.

► Help national/local NGO’s to continue the development of road safety awareness campaigns targeting youngsters, by providing high quality knowledge, material and tailor made campaigns in order to ease the implementation of road safety cost efficient yet qualitative events.

It is often surprising to hear that young people are over-represented in the number deaths due to road crashes ever year. However, when attempting to analyse factors behind such phenomena, it is not surprised that young male drivers constitute a significant proportion of these deaths. On average, young males are more likely to take risks on the road than young females and young men are more likely to use their automobiles for thrill seeking.

In response to this and as a concrete movement towards the forthcoming decade of action, PRP are hosting this conference with the aim that young drivers will take on board the seriousness of road safety and become road safety ambassadors for their peer group.

Our Communications Officer, Manpreet Darroch, will be attending the conference as a follow up of his work in Tunisia at the Young Drivers Forum. Manpreet will present alongside Axel Druart of Responsible Young Drivers Belgium and Hajer Bourouni of ATRP, a Tunisian Road Safety Association. At the conference, Manpreet will focus on presenting the key facts about the work of YOURS and present a call for action, where young people can join YOURS and become active road safety ambassadors. Here, the World Crossing Campaign video will also be showcased.

More information about the event will feature soon, including a video and photographic capture of the event. For more information contact: manpreet@youthforroadsafety.org

Over a nine- year period (1997-2006) hospitalizations for ATV injuries increased 150 percent among youth younger than 18 years, with important demographic variations. Rates increased the most dramatically in the South and Midwest, and among teens ages 15 to 17. While males between 15 to 17 have the highest rate of ATV hospitalization, females ages 15 to 17 experienced the sharpest rise in ATV hospitalizations over the study time period, an increase of 250 percent. The report is published in the October issue of the Journal of Trauma.

“All-Terrain Vehicles are inherently dangerous to children,” said Stephen M. Bowman, PhD, MHA, assistant professor with the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy and the report’s lead author. “While manufacturers are required to label vehicles with engine sizes greater than 90cc as inappropriate for children younger than sixteen, our data indicate that a growing number of children are receiving serious injuries due to ATV use, suggesting that parents are unaware of these recommendations or are choosing to ignore them.”

In 1988, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and representatives of the ATV industry entered into a decade-long consent decree to reduce the risk of injury associated with ATV use; provisions included a ban on the sale of three-wheeled ATVs, a free nationwide training program for all ATV purchasers, improved safety labeling and a public awareness campaign. This consent decree expired in 1998 and is only continued by some manufacturers on a voluntary basis. While previous studies have examined the impact of the expiration of the consent decree between the CPSC and the ATV industry immediately following its termination, this is the first study to examine whether rates of ATV-injury hospitalizations have continued to increase.

“Clearly, too many children are being injured on these vehicles,” said co-author, Mary E. Aitken, MD, MPH, professor of pediatrics with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and director of the Injury Prevention Center at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. “Given the dramatic increases in hospitalization that we report, a renewed effort by the public health community, the ATV industry and the CPSC to address this problem is warranted.”

The researchers analyzed hospital discharge data from the Kid’s Inpatient Database (KID) of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, which is sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Injury Severity Scores (ISS), a widely accepted measure of injury severity, were calculated for each hospitalization. Results showed that all types of injury (minor, moderate and major) increased over the study time period, with rates for hospitalizations with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury tripling during the study time period.

“In our study 30 percent of patients hospitalized for ATV-related injuries had a diagnosis of traumatic brain injury,” said Bowman. “Increasing helmet use through a combination of policy and education is critical to curbing the increasing trend in ATV-related hospitalizations among children.”

Support for this research came from the Arkansas Biosciences Institute.

Contact for Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Tim Parsons at 410-955-7619 or tmparson@jhsph.edu.

Additional media contact: Alicia Samuels, MPH, Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy, 410-614-5555 or alsamuel@jhsph.edu.

For more news follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JohnHopkinsSPH or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/JohnsHopkinsSPH.

Safety 2010 was a major world conference bringing together stakeholders in the prevention of unintentional injuries and violence from around the world to debate, discuss and exchange information and experiences.

The conference was organised by the WHO Collaborating Centre for Violence Prevention at the Centre for Public Health, Liverpool John Moores University. The conference is co-sponsored by the World Health Organization. The Department of Health, The Health Protection Agency, The Department for Transport and the Department of Education in England supported the conference.

The key theme of the conference was Safe and Equitable Communities. This theme was chosen to reflect the disproportionate burden from almost all types of injuries that falls on poorer communities. Such differences are apparent both within countries, between countries and even between global regions.

The conference highlighted the interface between different sectors, organisations and disciplines. It also examined unintentional injuries and violence linked to age, gender and ethnicity; focus on settings including the home, work, sports and leisure; and explore related environmental and sustainability factors.

Floor Lieshout, Chief Exective of Youth for Road Safety presented a speech in the closing session of the conferece and ‘challenged researchers and professionals to get more involved in road safety’. He highlighted the unprecedented burden facing young people globally while users of the roads and brought much needed attention to this area at the conference.

Mr. Lieshout shared the stage with EuroSafe Netherlands, The World Health Organization and the Karolinska Institute, Sweden. In the closing remarks, it was clear that as a the leading cause of unintentional injury and death of young people globally, road safety would need to sit high on the agenda of the attending organization. Alongside this, Mr Lieshout also chaired a Parallel Session on Young Drivers in which several global organizations participated.

More information about the conference can be found at: http://www.safety2010.org.uk or email: manpreet@youthforroadsafety.org

As summer slowly comes to a close, rays of possibility are shining strong in YOURS as we appoint two new members of staff. The two positions, as Project Coordinator and Communications Officer are appointed to Ms Nellie Ghusayni from Lebanon and Manpreet Darroch from the United Kingdom.

Project Coordinator
Ms Ghusayni’s experience in road safety related education and youth engagement make her the ideal appointment for YOURS Project Coordination. Her experience in the field of young people and road safety is extensive and Ms Ghusayni chaired the World Youth Assembly for Road Safety 2007. Her immediate role takes the responsibiity of designing and delivering YOURS’ Welcome Kit with partners of YOURS. Alongside this, the Project Coordinator will oversee the development of new projects and ensure quality standards and inherent youth involvement are the core of all YOURS projects.

Communications Officer
Manpreet Darroch is the Director of the UK based the UK based Tune into Traffic campaign, which has a massive online presence. His experience in involving young people in road safety through online active participation gives him a strong platform on which to promote the message of YOURS globally through online communcation and worldwide media projects. A recent example of this can be seen in the successful completion of the World Crossing Campaign, a worldwide collective action to illustrate young people’s commitment to road safety worldwide.

To find out more about these roles and to read a background profile about YOURS’ new appointments, check out the STAFF SECTION.