Our Regional Coordinator for the Russian Region Mr Alexander Revskiy has been involved in promoting a new Russia wide road safety campaign called ‘Brake in Advance’. The campaign has been coordinated by Road Safety Russia the leading road safety NGO in Russia.
The “Brake in advance!” campaign is a large-scale public awareness campaign initiated by the General Department of Road Traffic Safety of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Russian Association of Motor Insurers, with information support provided by NGO Road Safety Russia.
Every year pedestrians account for one third of all road accident deaths. These road users are unprotected: they do not have an iron shell around their body. If a pedestrian is hit by a car, especially a car travelling at high speed, they cannot escape injury.
In 2012, to promote the use of pedestrian crossings, the Russian Association of Motor Insurers and the General Department of Road Traffic Safety of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs ran a campaign entitled “The Walk of Life”. Its results are best demonstrated by the statistics: the number of accidents involving pedestrians in places other than pedestrian crossings has fallen! In 2013 the number of people killed in such accidents fell by 6.5%.
However, despite an overall reduction in the number of pedestrians killed, in 2013 the number of accidents at pedestrian crossings increased by 10.3%, and the number of deaths by 7.5%. In most cases, it was drivers who were to blame. Drivers break the speed limit, fail to observe the rules for pedestrian crossings, and jump red lights. This is why it was decided to run the “Brake in advance” campaign.
Road Safety Russia have been at the forefront of creating innovative camaigns in the region.
The objective of this new campaign is to reduce the number of accidents caused by drivers failing to observe the rules for uncontrolled pedestrian crossings. Our task is to inform drivers that it is very important they reduce their speed in good time before a zebra crossing.
As part of the campaign, events aimed at increasing pedestrian safety will be held for the general public in a number of Russian regions. The main events will take place in ten regions: Perm Krai, the Chuvash Republic, St. Petersburg, and the Vladimir, Kaluga, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Novgorod, Omsk and Yaroslavl regions.
From mid-March, events will be held at pedestrian crossings: pedestrians will be told about the rules for crossing the road, and sixty meters before the crossing a special sign at the side of the road will warn drivers that they must reduce their speed in good time before a zebra crossing.
During the course of a week, special classes will be held in universities, nurseries, schools and driving schools in each region. There will also be special events at petrol stations. The main event will be training in “The Art of Braking”, during which drivers will be taught the principles and basics of effective and safe braking, and, supervised by instructors, they will have the chance to master braking techniques.
Click to watch the Pictograms Advert by Road Safety Russia.
Other regions will also be involved in the campaign. The “Pictograms” advert, audio clips, and outdoor advertising will remind drivers to slow down in good time and pedestrians to take care when crossing the road. The advert is already being shown on federal television channels and online. At the end of the campaign, all the materials (training film, studies, teaching aids) will be made available to download.
This update was provided by Alexander Revskiy – Coordinator of the Russian Region