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FROM THE FIELD

Road Safety: Traffic Deaths Increase Silently
29 Apr 2009 14:48:00 GMT
 Source: Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) International
Nadia McGill

Website: Website: http://www.adra.org

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According to the World Health Organization, more than 1 million people die in vehicle-related crashes every year.
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According to the World Health Organization, more than 1 million people die in vehicle-related crashes every year.
ADRA International/Hearly Mayr
SILVER SPRING, Md.--With more than a million people dying every year in vehicle related crashes worldwide, among them many aid workers, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is calling for increased attention to the global issue of road safety in an effort to curb the number of deaths and injuries caused largely by preventable road crashes.

According to the World Health Organization, approximately 1.2 million people are killed every year in vehicle related crashes worldwide, while up to 50 million people are injured every year. By 2020, injuries caused by these crashes will become a leading cause of death worldwide, surpassing the prevalence of diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria. Vehicle related fatalities caused by traffic accidents are expected to increase by 83 percent in developing countries over the next 15 years, if more is not done to increase road safety.

Aid organizations face unprecedented challenges around the world as a result of the increased scale and scope of natural and man-made disasters, coupled with the need to continue ongoing relief and development programs. This expanding humanitarian activity brings with it an increased risk of injuries or fatalities from vehicular crashes.

"Over the past few years, ADRA has been personally affected by this tragedy, with approximately half of our staff fatalities caused by vehicle-related accidents," said Ken Flemmer, bureau chief for Evaluation and Program Quality Support.

Although more than a million people die in vehicle crashes every year, this widespread issue receives little attention compared to other less prevalent tragedies, exacerbating a problem that has a direct impact on health, productivity, and economic development.

"Vehicle crashes are now one of the top 10 causes of mortality worldwide," said Dr. T. Bella Dinh-Zarr, director of Road Safety for the FIA Foundation, and North American director for Make Roads Safe, at a recent high level global road safety briefing held in Washington DC. "The Make Roads Safe campaign welcomes the efforts of ADRA to help prevent these deaths among both aid workers and those they serve."

In addition to its support of the Make Roads Safe initiatives, ADRA is also promoting increased road safety and security practices among its staff. During the most recent ADRA Professional Leadership Institute (APLI) held in Chiang Mai, Thailand in March, ADRA promoted safe driving behavior, teaching personal safety methods to staff from around the world.

ADRA encourages increased utilization of the 10 road safety principles currently being highlighted by the Kjaer Group and the Global Road Safety Partnership's 10 Campaign. These include: driving responsibly, abstaining from drinking and driving, maintaining visibility as a pedestrian, following a vehicle from a safe distance, ensuring a vehicle's roadworthiness, obeying traffic lights and speed limits, using caution in passing other vehicles, maintaining appropriate care when using a cellular telephone, and wearing a seatbelt.

Make Roads Safe is a global road safety campaign coordinated and funded by the FIA Foundation for the Automobile and Society, a charitable organization registered in the United Kingdom. The campaign advocates for the policy recommendations made by the Commission for Global Road Safety and the 2004 World Report on road traffic injury prevention.

For more information about making roads safe, visit www.makeroadssafe.org.

ADRA is a non-governmental organization present in 125 countries providing sustainable community development and disaster relief without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, race or ethnicity.

For more information about ADRA, visit www.adra.org.




[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]


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