1. REPUBLIC COUNCIL ON ROAD TRAFFIC SAFETY OF THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
The role, work and goals of the Republic Council on Road Traffic Safety
Risto Mancev

2. Road traffic safety is a serious challenge and a serious problem for all modern societies.
     Road traffic is a very serious source of various threats and dangers whose consequences are traffic accidents with lost human lives, traffic accidents with severely injured persons and large material damages.

3. Annually, around 1.3 million people lose their lives in traffic accidents, representing 2.2% of global mortality.
  About million people have been injured and become lifelong disabled.
This means that around 140,000 people have been injured daily on the roads around the world,
over 3,000 people die daily as a result of a traffic accident
around 15,000 are disabled for the rest of their lives.

4. About 90% of fatal injuries in traffic accidents are in the countries with low and middle income.
  Estimations of material damages from traffic accidents amount to over 500 billion dollars a year, i.e. about 1-3% of gross national income.
According to WHO, traffic accidents are the third leading cause of death among people aged between 5 and 44.
If no more effective measures are taken in the near future, traffic traumatism will become the fifth leading cause of death in the world and will result in an estimated 2.4 million deaths on annual level.

5. CAN THE ROAD TRAFFIC SAFETY BE MANAGED AND HOW AND WHO SHOULD BE MANAGING IT?
  WHAT IS THE ROLE OF RCRTS IN THE SYSTEM FOR TRAFFIC SAFETY MANAGEMENT IN THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA?

6. Traffic is a complex and dynamic system that depends on a number of factors. (key factors are: road, vehicle, human)
Road traffic safety is a complex phenomenon that depends on the functionality of the entire social system, that is, the level at which the key factors influencing the road traffic are interconnected in a single functional whole.
  The task of RSBSP is to coordinate all the factors, as well as to upgrade that functional whole and to raise it to an even higher level.

7. Law on Road Traffic Safety (LRTS)
Basic information
Article 370
Law on Road Traffic Safety (LRTS)
For the purposes of development and improvement of the traffic education of the traffic participants, realisation of the cooperation and coordination in the development of the traffic prevention activities and self-protection, improvement of general road traffic safety as a matter subject to social interest, as well as for the purposes of initiating and proposing special measures for greater road traffic safety, the Republic Council for Road Traffic Safety operates in the Republic of Macedonia.

8. Basic information
The Council was established in 1962 as a special expert body within the frames of the State Secretariat for Internal Affairs of that time.
Throughout the years, RCRTS has been restructured outside the State Secretariat for Internal Affairs and has been set up as an Advisory Body of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia for the Improvement of the Road Traffic Safety.
The President and the members of the RCRTS are appointed by the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia with a mandate of four years.

9. Organisation and Structure of the RCRTS
President
Members of RCRTS
(total 28)
Secretary
(selected from the members)
Expert service
Commissions within the frame of RCRTS
External associates

10. RCRTS Commissions and Their Tasks
Commission for Traffic Education of Children and Adult;
Commission for Development of the International Cooperation and Application of the Scientific Matters and Results of the Scientific and Research Work;
Commission for the Implementation of the National Strategy;
Commission for Marketing and Public Relations;
Commission for Finances;
Commission for Public Procurement;
Commission for Cooperation with the MCRTS and NGOs .

11. Local – Municipal Councils for Road Traffic Safety
For the purposes of improvement of the traffic prevention actions at local level, the Municipal Councils for Road Traffic Safety operate in the Republic of Macedonia.
The Municipal Council for Road Traffic Safety i.e. the Council for Road Traffic Safety of the City of Skopje submits financial report and report for the realised activities of the Annual Programme to the Municipal Council, i.e. the Council of the City of Skopje.
The Republic Council coordinates and controls the functioning of the MCRTS.

12. BASIC INFORMATIONS
The President and the members of the Republic Council are appointed by the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, whereas the members of the municipal councils – Municipal Council i.e. Council of the City of Skopje are selected from the interested state authorities, institutions and legal entities, as well as prominent experts in the area of road traffic safety following the proposal of the Republic Council !

13. RCRTS’S TASKS
improvement of the works related to the road traffic safety;
improvement of the traffic education of the traffic participants and development of the traffic education work of the preschool establishments and schools;
realising a cooperation and coordination in the preventive work of the state authorities, institutions, legal entities and other subjects in terms of the self-protection issues in the area of road traffic;
organising and participating in traffic-educational actions and events in the area of traffic prevention;
stimulating, developing and assisting the scientific and research work in the area of road traffic;
procurement and issue of traffic education publications, films, etc.;
organising scientific end expert conventions for the work in the area of road traffic safety, and
cooperation with the public media for the purposes of duly, full and objective informing of the public on the measures for the Improvement of the traffic prevention and road traffic safety.

14. Main projects and activities
Republic Council for Road Traffic Safety has prepared, and the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia has create the Second National Strategy of the Republic of Macedonia for improvement of the Road Traffic Safety 2015 – 2020
Official Promotion of the Second National Strategy of
the Republic of Macedonia for improvement of the Road Traffic Safety
(May 2015)

15. Main projects and activities
The Republic Council on Road Traffic Safety organised the First International Conference in the period from until , which was related to the road traffic safety, entitled as: “Managing the road traffic safety in the Southeast Europe - Challenges and Guidelines for Action”.

16. Republic Council for Road Traffic is a member of ETSC (European Transport  Safety Council) and (La Prevention Routiere Internationale-PRI)

18. Campaign for raising the public awareness for greater safety of children in the traffic “Let’s Protect Children in the Traffic”

19. Campaign for raising the public awareness for greater safety of children in the traffic “Let’s Protect Children in the Traffic”

20. Participating in the debate in the Macedonian Assembly in the procedure for adopting of the new Law on Road Traffic Safety

21. Organising quiz “Children's traffic light”, which for years was organised by RCRTS at national level

22. Educational activity
Within the framework of its work, the Republic Council on Road Traffic Safety has prepared and distributed educational material intended for safe motorcycle riding, a manual for beginner drivers and a traffic perusal intended for children in primary schools

23. “Charter of the Republic of Macedonia” on the occasion of 55 years of RCRTS
The President of the Republic of Macedonia HE Gjorge Ivanov presented the Republic Council on Road Traffic Safety an Acknowledgement “Charter of Macedonia”.   The Charter is presented for the achieved results in its long-standing activity and in the development of traffic education, culture, ethics, with which the Council made an exceptional contribution towards improving the safety of all participants in road traffic in the Republic of Macedonia.