Road Safety Programs

The Traffic Injury Research Foundation announces the release of a community based toolkit for road safety campaigns. The kit is meant to assist a community in the creation of an effective road safety campaign that focuses on issues of local concern.

I've just finished reading Eliminating Serious Injury and Death From Road Transport and find myself in agreement with much of its content. The time I've spent in traffic law enforcement and the investigation of a large number of collisions has shown me that many of them are suffered by people just like you and me.

Road Safety Campaigns What the Research Tells Us: This report contains an overview of leading theories that provide the foundation for road safety campaigns. It is combined with a comprehensive summary of the research evidence related to the effectiveness of road safety campaigns generally, and examples of individual campaign evaluations regarding drinking and driving, distracted driving, seatbelt use, speeding and vulnerable road users.

Reconstruction is part of Australia's Wipe Off 5 anti-speeding campaign. It demonstrates how slowing down by 5 km/h can drastically reduce the consequences of a collision. In contrast, one might think about many driver's tendencies to say that 10 over isn't a problem because the police don't write speeding tickets for that little over the limit. The ticket might be the least of your problems if your speed is the cause of a collision.

This TyreSafe video from the UK is equally valid here in British Columbia. Well, except for the 20p coin tread depth test of course! It urges you to consider the condition of your tires monthly, or at least prior to every long trip. In addition to what to check, it adds information on how tires can affect your ability to operate your vehicle safely.

"Globally road traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for young people, like myself. We have the right, responsibility, and capability to change this situation. This Youth and Road Safety Action Kit is an essential addition to our road safety toolbox.” Sheila Atieno, 25 years, Kenya.

"Any loss of life in traffic is unacceptable." This is the philosophy of traffic safety in Sweden. The Vision Zero Initiative sets an ultimate target of no deaths or serious injuries on Sweden’s roads, and is not merely content to reduce accidents to an economically manageable level. The focus is on the system, not only the driver and has been incorporated into national law.

A short video introducing the five pillars of the Global Plan for Road Safety. These pillars are Road Safety Management, Safer Roads and Mobility, Safer Vehicles, Safer Road Users and Post Crash Response.

Definitely a different video, produced for the Global Road Safety Partnership, uses a character called Steve to demonstrate the hidden dangers on our roads. Worldwide, 1.3 million "Steves" die every year in road incidents, which is the number one cause of death for young people today.

I was listening to the investigation of a driving complaint unfold the other day. A member of the public had complained about the way a business vehicle was being driven and the constable had asked the dispatcher to inquire about the driver with the business. "He's a pretty bad driver" the dispatcher relayed from the business owner, "he should probably get a ticket."