The European Commission have released their 9th newsletter with a special focus on the 4th European Road Safety Day that took place last month in Nicosia, Cyprus. This report gives an in depth insight on the ground at the event with interviews from presenters, policy makers and young people captured by the European Commission’s own journalist. It is available to download here.
Download the newsletter in the attachments.
Published by: Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport | European Commission – BE-1049 Brussels
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/index_en.htm
Youth take action to cut road deaths and boost safety
From young people working on the ground with high risk drivers, to policy makers battling to bring down the number of
people dying on the EU’s roads, everyone at the 2012 European Youth Forum for Road Safety Conference held in Cyprus,
had one thing in common – a passionate commitment to save lives.
Statistics show the commitment is needed: in the EU alone 30-500 people died in road traffic crashes last year. Over the past decade, 2001-11, 471 200 people were killed on our roads, the equivalent of 3 162 Boeing 737s crashing and killing everyone on board.
“It seems as if people think of road fatalities as part of the cost of mobility”, said Floor Lieshout, one of the founders of Youth for Road Safety (YOURS), “Internationally we lose 400 000 young people every year and we’re like ‘yeah, yeah it’s the price we have to pay’.It has to stop.”
Presentations covering policy directions and academic findings set out facts for consideration throughout the morning, feeding into animated discussions. Afternoon workshops on education and training, enforcement and risky behaviour gave the delegates the chance to hear how others working in road safety are trying to turn the situation around.
What’s the bottom line?
As youth safety workers, scientists in the field of toxicology, members of the police and policy makers shared their ideas and experiences, certain bottom line messages became apparent: young men are disproportionately likely to provoke an accident and be killed; far too many 18-25 year olds believe that road fatalities are inevitable and that crashes happen to other people, and the best way to educate risk-takers is through peer-to-peer awareness-raising.
You can view YOURS’ videos from this event here and download the European Commission newsletter in the attachments on the right column.