Future challenge for dealing with Road Safety Sanja Sazdovska, MPH Member of Road Safety Council

Preface The idea of this presentation is not to win any prize. The only idea is to save at least some of the 1,2 millions killed in road accidents every year. If at least one life can be saved, that will be a great success.

Preface It is sure that thousands of lives can be saved, every year, if the suggestions are implemented worldwide, especially in developing and under developed countries.

Preface I don’t claim my presentation is good in presentation is good in presentation skills. All are free to download and make it a more professional presentation. Only idea is to save lives…… Wish all the best for the participants……. Let us make it a great success….

Road Accident Statistics More than 1,2 million people are killed in Road Accidents, worldwide, every year. 3 to 4 % of Gross National Product. On child is killed in Road Accidents, every three minutes in the World. Total world wise death toll of Tsunami of 2004 was about 230,000. But the annual worldwide death toll of Road Accidents is 1,200,000!!! i.e. more than Five times the Tsunami toll.

Steps to be taken for preventing Road Accidents Most important method to bring down accidents is strict enforcement of speed limits. 90% of accidents can be avoided by strict enforcement of speed limits. Existing speed limits should be brought down further.

How to prevent Road Accidents Heavy Penalty should be imposed on all those who cross speed limits. If this is strictly implemented, nobody will dare to go at high speed. Heavy Penalty should be imposed for those who case accidents. Tamper proof speed controllers should be made mandatory for all heavy vehicles. New heavy vehicles should have built in tamper proof speed controllers. Two wheeler manufacturers should be asked to design two wheelers with a designed maximum speed of (say) 50/60 kmph. (Suitable speed limit may be selected for each country)

How to prevent Road Accidents New gadgets are to be developed for collision prevention an should be fitted on all vehicle. Research organizations should be asked to develop such gadgets on a war footing. For example, gadgets can be developed to automatically slow down the vehicle, if safe distance commensurate with the speed of the vehicle in front is not maintained. Gadgets can be developed for warning the driver, if the driver sleeps. Driving tests for issue of Driving license is to be made more stringent and foolproof. Raising of lower age limit for two wheeler and Heavy Vehicle license to 21.

How to prevent Road Accidents Helmet should be made compulsory for back seat riders also. Ensure that all Helmet users are fixing the Chinstrap of Helmet. Otherwise it will not help during an accident. Ensure that ONLY good quality Helmets that meet standard specifications are available in the market. Existing traffic rules should be strictly enforced. Law should be modified such that the person who makes the accident has to bear (say) 0 to 10% of insurance claims depending on severity of negligence. Also the compensations should be made very huge, making accidents unaffordable so that everyone will be very vigilant.

How to prevent Road Accidents All those who do not maintain the safe distance for the speed should be punished. Safety awareness should begin from childhood, as it is difficult to impart awareness to grown up a human. If safety awareness is imparted at childhood, safety will be a habit. Video and Computer games that simulate Motor Racing should be banned by Government OR discouraged by parents as it will develop racing habit in children. All sorts of Motor sports, especially racing should be banned by government. Telecast of Motor Sports and racing also should be banned.

How to prevent Road Accidents Racing, over speed / highly risky riding, driving by Heroes should not be filmed in cinemas and TV serials. Children are likely to imitate the same. Statutory warning will no help. Government should censor such scenes. Advertisements by automobile companies which include scenes of dangerous and risky riding or driving should be banned. Youngsters are likely to imitate the same. Statutory warnings will not help. Such ads will result un irreparable character formation regarding riding and driving in kids and children. Such children may make accidents in future. Children below a certain age should not be permitted to do cycling in busy roads and in roads where heavy vehicles are playing.

How to prevent Road Accidents Refreshment parlors should be made available at every 50/100 km on all highways and important roads. Truck, Heavy vehicle drivers should be forced to refresh by having a face wash or by having a cup of tea or coffee. The practice of keeping the traffic signals in stand by mode during nights and on holidays is to be reviewed and discontinued. Advertisement board and other items that may obstruct visibility at junctions, curvatures and other parts of the roads should be removed immediately. Ensure that money recovered as Road Tax is fully utilized for the construction and maintenance of roads

How to prevent Road Accidents Time Punching or Private buses practiced in some regions should be discontinued as it is forcing the drivers to go at high speed, after traffic blocks. Newspaper, television and other media should be effectively used for Public Safety Awareness. Major accidents and accident prone areas should be analysed scientifically. Speed should be restricted at accident prone areas. More stringent traffic rules should be enacted.

How to prevent Road Accidents License of those who are involved in accidents should be suspended immediately at least until they prove that they are not guilty. License of those who make serios accidents should be cancelled immediately. All roads should be maintained properly. Permanent contracts or arrangements should be in place for maintaining all roads in good conditions 24 hours a day, 365 days an year. If a gutter is repaired in time it can save a life!!! Health of vehicles should be strictly enforced.

How to prevent Road Accidents Eyes of old aged driving license holders should be checked at regular intervals. License of drunkard drivers and riders should be cancelled immediately. Judicial Commissions should be setup to monitor steps taken to control road accidents and to monitor the accident rates on a weekly basis. On way traffic should be implemented in all roads as far as possible. Roads should be widened wherever required. Curvatures should be minimized. Medians should be constructed in roads with two way traffic. Footpaths and medians should be made mandatory for all important roads and for all new roads.

How to prevent Road Accidents Zebra crossings should be provided for pedestrians for safe road crossings at appropriate places. Signals for road crossings should be provided at important and busy places where a large number of people have to cross the road everyday. Roads should be properly marked. Sign posts should be provided wherever required. Humps should be provided at all important places, accident prone areas. Humps should be made for all sub roads where it enters a main road.

How to prevent Road Accidents Humps should be clearly marked to avoid accidents. Methods of permanent nature should be followed in Hump marking. For example white marble pieces/white color/fluorescent pigment can be used. Provision of small pilot humps few meters before humps can also be considered to ensure that humps are not left unnoticed. Obstructions on road sides caused by unauthorized construction and road side sales should be eliminated completely. Visibility should be increased near curvatures. Some times, even cutting of grass to increase visibility can help save many lives.

How to prevent Road Accidents Road Safety Day/Road Safety Week should be observed in all Schools, every year, Competitions on Road Safety Tips, Slogans, Essays, Paintings etc. should be conducted for students of various classes. School Buses should be pained with Bright Yellow color. Let “Road Safety” be mandatory topic for School Projects for all classes, every year. A small pool of water or a hanging branch of tree on roadsides can cause accidents as such obstructions will make the pedestrians and drivers to take sudden LATERAL movement and result in accidents. Hence any obstruction on road sides which can cause a LATERAL movement should be rectified immediately.

How to prevent Road Accidents Black color should not be permitted for Cycles. Default color for Cycles should be changed to Yellow. Automobile and cycle manufacturers should be asked to stop producing black and dark vehicles. Yellow or other bright colored vehicles should be produced instead. Front and Black of lorries and Trucks should be painted with bright Yellow color to increase visibility. This will help to prevent collisions while Lorries and Trucks are parked on roadside without parking lights switched on.

How to prevent Road Accidents Reflectors should be fixed on Front and Back of Trucks and Lorries. Accident statistics should be periodically reviewed to understand the effect of actions taken. Corrective steps should be taken based on these reviews. Attention distracting Hoardings, banners, posters, advertisements etc. should be banned near roads and highways. Default color of Helmets should be changed to Yellow to reduce accidents by increased visibility. Black and dark colors should be not permitted.

How to prevent Road Accidents All automobile manufacturers should be asked to strengthen safety standards of vehicles by improved design. All models of vehicles should be issued a international safety rating number (say from 1 to 100) based on their safety features, design, build, color etc. Vehicle manufactures will compete to improve the safety to improve the safety to get top ranking. This will ultimately result in saving of many lives. Customers can easily select the safest vehicle based on safety number.

How to prevent Road Accidents Parking near curvatures should be strictly prohibited. Road crossing near curvatures should be made punishable. Day light like lighting should be provided in main roads, so that high beam can be avoided and a lot accidents caused by high beam of vehicles coming from opposite direction can be avoided. Drunkard driving should be firmly dealt with. Anti drowsy warning gadgets should be made mandatory during night travel. Street dogs should be eliminated completely.

How to prevent Road Accidents Low cost tamper proof electronic devices to record the speed of the vehicle should be developed and should be fitted on all heavy vehicles. The devices should be examined in case of accidents – a miniature version of black box of aero plane. Video cameras should be installed at regular intervals on highways by Police and should be centrally monitored. And, last but not least, share this documents with all you friends, relatives, colleagues, other contracts, government officials and voluntary organization to save many lives.

Worldwide toll of Road Accidents (statistics by World Bank and WHO) 1.2 million people worldwide are estimated to be killed each year on the roads – that’s around 3,000 deaths daily, 500 of them children. 50 million people worldwide are believed to be injured in road crashes each year, 15 million seriously. Low and middle income countries account for more than 85 per cent of global deaths from road traffic crashes. The global financial cost of road traffic injures is 518 billion USD each year.

Worldwide toll of Road Accidents (statistics by World Bank and WHO) The cost to low and middle income countries is 65 billion USD, more than all development aid income. For males aged 15 – 44, road traffic injures rank second (behind HIV/AIDS)as the leading cause of premature death and ill health world wide. By 2020, unless action is taken, road traffic injures are predicted to rise overall by about 80 per cent in low and middle income countries. Source: The ‘’World report on road traffic injury prevention’’ jointly published in 2004 by the World Bank and the World Health Organization

More Road Accidents facts Total number of annual road accidents deaths is more than the total population of Mauritius 5 Tsunamis are wiping out lives from the world every year, in the form of Road Accidents. Nobody is noticing it!!!!!!

More Road Accidents facts Few hundreds are killed by terrorism every year. Countries are spending billions and trillions of dollars to fight terrorism. We had a war against terrorism. Thousands of soldiers sacrificed their lives. Hundreds of innocents were killed in the war against terrorism.

Now, It time for war against Road Accidents Are you ready?

Spreading this message How you can help? You can fight Road Accidents by simply Spreading this message

Road Safety Slogans Life’s short, don’t rush it. It’s better late than never. Chance takers are accident makers. If you want to stay married, divorce speed. Be alert! Accident hurt. Hug your kids at home, but belt them in the car! Normal speed meets every need. You can’t get home, unless you are safe,

Road Safety Slogans Alert today –Alive tomorrow. Leave sooner, drive slower, live longer. Night doubles traffic troubles. Stop accidents before they stop you. Better to arrive late than never. Speed Thrills But Kills. Don’t drink and drive Better be Mister Late than to be Late Mister

Road Safety Slogans Are you tired – Take a break. Keep your child safe – Teach him road safety. Think, anticipate, and avoid accidents. Kill your speeds not a child. Give way to pedestrians. Country people die on country roads. Your kid’s need experience not excuses. Life is so precious. The life you save may be your own.

Road Safety Slogans Children should be seen and not hurt. Its better a minute late than ‘’the late’’. Don’t become a road accident ‘’statistic’’. Better a minute late than ‘’dead on time’’. Road Safety is no accident. Speed that thrills is the speed that kills. Look every way everyday. Watchful eyes get no surprise.

Road Safety Slogans Always alert, seldom hurt, Courtesy is catching. Speak up to slow them down. Stop him speeding; put your foot down. Drive with reason this holiday season. If you drink drive you are a bloody idiot. Feel the curves but don’t hug them.

Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC)* Predictable Effects on Driving Typical Effects Predictable Effects on Driving .02% About 2 alcoholic drinks** Some loss of judgment Relaxation Slight body warmth Altered mood Decline in visual functions (rapid tracking of a moving target) Decline in ability to perform two tasks at the same time (divided attention) .05% About 3 alcoholic drinks** Exaggerated behavior May have loss of small-muscle control (e.g., focusing your eyes) Impaired judgment Usually good feeling Lowered alertness Release of inhibition Reduced coordination Reduced ability to track moving objects Difficulty steering Reduced response to emergency driving situations .08% About 4 alcoholic drinks** Muscle coordination becomes poor (e.g., balance, speech, vision, reaction time, and hearing) Harder to detect danger Judgment, self-control, reasoning, and memory are impaired Concentration Short-term memory loss Speed control Reduced information processing capability (e.g., signal detection, visual search) Impaired perception .10% About 5 alcoholic drinks** Clear deterioration of reaction time and control Slurred speech, poor coordination, and slowed thinking Reduced ability to maintain lane position and brake appropriately .15% About 7 alcoholic drinks** Far less muscle control than normal Vomiting may occur (unless this level is reached slowly or a person has developed a tolerance for alcohol) Major loss of balance Substantial impairment in vehicle control, attention to driving task, and in necessary visual and auditory information processing

School authorities can share the above tips by: Discussing the tips in Parent Teacher meetings. Discussing it in School Assembly/Class Rooms. Printing the tips in School diary every year (next year onwards). Printing tips in School Magazine. Announcing one Tip each day under the head Tip of the Day. Displaying the tips in special Notice Board in easily visible large letter. Displaying the tips in all Class Rooms /Walls of School Building. Printing and distributing the Tips among Parents/Children. Forwarding the mail to neighboring schools, Parents, Teachers etc.

Let us help to prevent road accidents by sharing this document with Parents, Teacher, Students, Children, Friends, Relatives, Colleagues and other contacts. Let us help to save thousands of lives by submitting this document to local authorities, State and Union Governments, Police Officials, Home and Public Works Departments, NGOs like Rotary, Lions clubs etc.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

www.rsbsp.org.mk