Global Road Safety Week Campaign Launched

Every day, more than 500 children lose their lives and thousands are injured in traffic crashes globally.

This year, the UN Global Road Safety Week 2015 (GRSW,) which takes place between the 4^th and 10^th of May, has been officially launched with a giant “safie” to show support for the #SaveKidsLives campaign.

Using the power of social media, “Safies” will form part of the campaign, with professionals, campaigners and members of the public around the world having their pictures taken while displaying their personal road safety messages, with the hashtag #safie.

You can download the pre-written sign from the official website, savekidslives2015.org, where there is also a wealth of information available about the campaign and the aims, and the opportunity to sign up and pledge your support by signing the Declaration you are helping to:

• call for action to stop the growing number of road deaths worldwide
• ask decision makers to save kids’ lives by putting road safety in place
• support the movement for road safety led by children around the world

This Declaration is a call for action to mark UN Global Road Safety Week in May 2015. It also urges world leaders to include a target to halve road traffic fatalities globally in the Post-2015 Development Goals, so that kids everywhere can be kept safe.

In the UK, a comprehensive programme of activities and resources is being prepared by an alliance of road safety organisations, headed by Road Safety GB and including RoSPA.

The UK campaign includes a database of countrywide road safety practitioners who will link with colleagues in other countries to share expertise and experience, while a series of resources for pupils here and overseas will be made available free to download.

A series of seminars and forums will also take place during the week for practitioners across the world to interact with each other, and basic road safety information covering children as pedestrians, cyclists, public transport and travelling in cars will be distributed.

Kevin Clinton, RoSPA’s head of road safety, said: “Pedestrian safety is most associated with educating children, but with a public health emphasis on increasing walking, coupled with the distraction of technology and increasingly busy lives, helping adults is also an area that needs much thought. It’s important that we don’t lose sight of the needs of pedestrians.

“This is just one of the reasons why RoSPA is proud to be involved in UK GRSW. We want to protect children and adults around the world from the dangers of the road.”