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"Road
traffic injuries are a global problem affecting all
sectors of society. To date, road safety has received
insufficient attention at the international and national
levels. This has resulted in part from: a lack of
information on the magnitude of the problem and its
preventability; a fatalistic approach to road crashes;
and a lack of the political responsibility and
multidisciplinary collaboration needed to tackle it
effectively. However, much can be done to reduce the
problem of road crashes....."
UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan
Click
here to view the UN's April 2004 actions on global
road safety. |
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The
UK organization, RoadSafe,
provided an excellent insight into one of the purposes of World
Health Day and this year's coverage of road safety. Unwittingly,
in the third paragraph below, they also touched upon something
our own small organization -- Drive and Stay Alive, Inc.
-- is working to achieve, when they wrote:
"It is clear that road safety offers an opportunity for a
wide range of stakeholders to actively engage in addressing the
global problem of road accidents, deaths and injuries. Previous
efforts by governments and donors to try to improve road safety
in developing and transitional countries have had limited
success and many interventions simply have not been financially
or institutionally sustainable.
"Whilst it is really up to
governments to take a lead in introducing strategies which will
work in their own countries, there are many officials and non
government organisations working to make things better in the
developing world already. What they often lack is information
and inspiration; here the UKs road safety professionals can
really help.
"The world may
seem a big place from our offices and we may well be working
flat out to make our own budgets stretch to meet our local
goals, but why should we not look a little further and perhaps
exchange a few ideas with others from distant lands?"
If
you haven't already done so, please visit Drive and Stay Alive's
international "Road
Safety In The News" web page. It's where we, at DSA, try
to facilitate an exchange of some of those ideas.
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|
Fédération
Internationale
de
l'Automobile |
The
world of international motor sport is calling for safer
roads.
Formula
1 multiple world champion Michael Schumacher joined forces
with the FIA Foundation and transport ministers from across
the European Union at a signing ceremony in Dublin, Ireland,
for the new European Road Safety Charter.
FIA
President Max Mosley and Michael Schumacher are key note
speakers at the launch of the Charter, which calls on
governments, companies and organisations across the European
Union (EU) to make a firm and measurable commitment to
improve road safety. The EU has a target of reducing road
deaths by 50% by 2010.
For
their comments, and more details of the event, click here.
|
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African
Continent
It was no accident that the World Health Organisation chose to
launch the African 2004 World Health Day in Nairobi on April 7,
wrote John Rugoiyo. According to WHO, it chose the Kenyan venue
because of the fact that out of the 46 WHO member states in the
African region, only Kenya is implementing a road traffic policy
to improve road safety.
Such accolade must be music to the ears of the Ministry of
Transport and Communications officials in Nairobi, and
especially the minister, John Michuki, who was criticised by a
wide cross section of Kenyans – including this writer – when
he first came up with the road safety campaign late last year.
Statistics from WHO show that road traffic accidents kill nearly
1.2 million people around the world every year. Despite this
carnage, described by a road safety expert as akin to
"state-sanctioned genocide on a global scale," traffic
deaths have been largely neglected as a health issue. This has
been due to the view of many that accidents are events that are
beyond people’s control.
WHO is now telling the world that the risks are known and
traffic deaths are largely preventable. These risks include
speeding, drunk driving, non-use of proper restraints such as
seatbelts and helmets and poor road design. WHO also cites the
problem of poor enforcement of road safety regulations, unsafe
vehicle design and poor emergency health services as also
contributing to the global epidemic of road deaths.
The Third World – the middle-income and low-income countries
as the World Health Organisation is now calling it – is where
most road deaths occur. This is despite the fact that the vast
majority of the world’s cars are in the high-income countries.
Yet only 10 per cent of the road deaths occur in these
countries.
Africa has very few cars relative to the rest of the world, yet
it is Africa that has the worst road death record – 28.3 per
100,000 people. Europe, despite the very high number of
vehicles, has less than half the rate of death, at 11 per
100,000 people. WHO has alerted the world that nine out of every
10 people killed in road accidents are now from low or
middle-income countries. Read
the full article here,
from The East African, and Kenya's Daily
Nation.
John
Rugoiyo is a an insurance assessor based in Nairobi
(Also
see Angola, Cameroon, Lesotho and Nigeria, below, plus Angola and Malawi
on our
main news page, for April 7, 2004.)
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Angola
Angola
has conditions to create a multisectorial partnership whose
priority would be the elaboration of adequate strategies for road
traffic safety and prevention, considered today in Luanda the
representative of the World Health Organisation to Angola, Paolo
Balladelli.
The
UN's official made this statement at the central act that marked
one more anniversary of the World Health Day, which is taking
place under the theme "Road safety does not come by
chance".
Mr
Balladelli added that if we join efforts by tackling the factors
that improve the road signs and conservation, the compliance with
the rules in passengers and load transportation, the regulation of
alcoholic drinks, high speed, the maintenance of vehicles and the
training of drivers, we would avoid the loss of more lives.
Angola's
Health Minister Albertina Hamukwaya said that many road accidents
that happen in the country have to do with over speed and driving
after drinking or drugs.
[Source:
Angola
Press Agency, Luanda]
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Australia
The
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons made several
recommendations to coincide with World Health Day, including:
RCAS
Trauma Committee chairman Associate Professor Peter Danne said 600
road deaths could be prevented every year if the policy was
implemented.
"This
country is way ahead of a lot of others in terms of road safety
but there is still more that we can do," he said.
Along
with better public transport, improved roads and appropriate speed
limits, the policy also outlined:
-
The
establishment of a national trauma institute
-
Mandatory
breath testing of all people in a road accident
-
Alcohol
ignition interlocks in all commercial vehicles and in those of
convicted drink-drivers
-
Mandatory
cancellation of licences for drivers exceeding the speed limit
by 30km.
Source:
The Courier Mail,
Queensland.
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Bangladesh
Bangladesh... has one of the highest fatality rates, higher than
73 deaths per 10,000 (sic) [registered vehicles?]. This accounts for a
whopping loss of Tk 15 billion every year. Such deaths often
ruin whole families and the maimed and crippled ones barely
exist (not live) on the margins of society and economy. Even the
statistics may not reflect the true magnitude of this epidemic
of the new century almost rivaling the HIV affliction. This
apprehension comes from lack of documentation and underreporting
of accidents.
We are adept in compiling and disseminating statistics, but
apparently not in acting on them. Perhaps, we like to rest
content with sharing the urgency that the data analysis brings
to the fore thinking that our commitment has been demonstrated
after all. This attitude must go. There must be a hands-on
approach, as distinguished from an academic one, on the part of
national governments to enhance road safety by all possible
means.
We have to make the right start in preventing road accidents. Do
we realise that 53 per cent of road accident victims are
pedestrian and that this could go up to 70 per cent in the near
future? It is a daily sight for anyone in the street that
pedestrians and vehicles pass each other by whiskers. So, all
street users have to be sensitised about adhering to road safety
rules. The recommendations of action research relating to
inclusion of traffic safety precautions in school curriculum,
capacity building in NGOs and communities, and the launching of
an awareness campaign on a sustainable basis, merit attention
and implementation.
Full
article here, from The
Daily Star
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Bhutan
The
small but stunningly beautiful Himalayan country of Bhutan had a
radical answer to the problem of road casualties but unfortunately
the web link was inoperative and we were unable to obtain any
further details:
Thimphu
: 7 April 2004 - The road safety and transport authority in
collaboration with the IECH and traffic police observed a "no
vehicles day"....!
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Brazil
In Brazil, traffic crashes -- which experts prefer not to call
accidents because most can be prevented -- claim more than
30,000 lives and leave more than 300,000 people injured each
year. Of the injured, 90,000 to 120,000 are left permanently
disabled in some way, said urban planner Nazareno Stanislau
Affonso, vice-president of the National Public Transport
Association (ANTP).
It does not make sense to manufacture vehicles capable of
reaching 200 km per hour, if the maximum speed on Brazil's
highways is 120 kph, and in traffic-congested cities like Sao
Paulo cars move at an average of less then 20 kph, Affonso told
IPS in an interview.
The automotive industry and governments must also share
responsibility for traffic mortalities, because they manufacture
and authorise the circulation of vehicles that can travel at
speeds above the maximum limit -- turning them into lethal
weapons, say activists and officials.
Read
the full
article, from IPS
(Also
see South America, below.)
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Brunei
In 2002 alone, 45 people in the Sultanate were killed in road
accidents, making it the 6th cause of death in the country. The
estimate for [the rate of] road deaths is 12.6 for every 100,000
residents, and that the toll is parallel to that of developing
nations.
Pehin Dato Haji Awang Abu
Bakar, Minister of Health, touched on the issue in an address at
the World Health Day 2004 celebration.
The event carried the theme "Road Safety Is No
Accident", and this theme underlines road safety that
requires planned efforts by the government and other related
sectors and that it does not happen on its own.
Aside from causing millions of deaths and injuries annually,
pollution due to motorisation also [contributes] to respiratory
diseases, making users less inclined to take up physical
activities, hence leading to obesity and other ill health.
[Source:
Radio Television Brunei, via BruneiDirect]
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Cameroon
On the occasion of World Health Day, Public Health and Transport
Ministers yesterday talked on measures taken to reduce road
accidents...
To curb the rate of road accidents in the country, the minister
said that community highway codes have been designed and adopted
by the road safety commission of his ministry. The codes include
regular alcohol tests conducted on drivers, the banding of the
use of mobile phones by drivers on highways, installation of
speed breaks, inspection of vehicles roadworthiness at major
transport agencies and regular media campaigns to educate the
ordinary road users. He said the commission is expected to
demolish unauthorised motor parks, continue the hunt for fake
driver licences and dish out appropriate sanctions against
defaulters. "The recent appointments in the Ministry of
Transport were also aimed at punishing staff who were involved
in the racketeer of fake driver licences," the minister
revealed. He also announced that the measures have led to a
marked drop in the rate of road accidents since November 2003...
Full
story, from AllAfrica
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Canada
Statement
from Peel Regional Police, Ontario:
World Health Day is about education and awareness, not
enforcement. Research has determined that drivers and passengers
who are not properly buckled in account for 40% of those killed
in motor vehicle crashes. Our focus therefore, will be to
encourage all citizens to wear their seat belts. More
specifically, we are focusing our efforts on protecting our most
precious commodity, children.
On World Health Day, Peel Regional Police will be working with
the Peel Car Seat Safety Committee to enhance the safety of
children in passenger vehicles. Studies have shown that up to
80% of the children in child restraint devices are not properly
secured. The problem is usually caused by a lack of knowledge on
the part of the child care giver. We need to reduce the risk. Full
article here, together with times and locations of car seat
clinics, etc., from CNW Telebec
(French version available) ______________________________________
In
British Columbia, in an average year, there are 419
fatalities: 110 caused by drinking and driving and 153 caused by
aggressive driving; 158 fatalities are unbelted; and 57
pedestrians are killed. (Some fatalities are combinations of the
above causes) CNW
Telebec have taken the excellent step of providing a list of
contacts to whom the media may speak about World Health Day in
relation to the B.C. road crash situation. Those details may be
found here.
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Europe
|
"The
European Union believes that saving human lives through
an effective road safety policy is a difficult
challenge, but also a moral obligation for all member
states."
Ambassador
Aldo Mantovani, Representative of Italy to the United
Nations, speaking on behalf of the European Union |
On
April 7th --
World Health Day for Road Safety -- Polis, Access Cities Network
and the City of London are organising the signing ceremony
of the European Road Safety Charter by the first 35
European local authorities. The event will take place in the
city hall and will be followed by the presentation of the
European Road Safety Awards and presentations for best
practices. [Click
here for the Polis commitment to the European Road Safety
Charter] TISPOL
(an association of senior representatives from the traffic
police departments of Europe) will participate In World Health
Day by conducting a Europe-wide seat belt campaign. Back
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France
|
One
of the best quotes, for World Health Day, was made by French
President Jacques Chirac:
"In
every accident, it is people who kill lives, by negligence, by
imprudence, by disobeying highway codes, or by indifference to
others. Our enemy is the fatality.
It
is not the road nor the cars that are killers."
|
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Hong
Kong The
Road Safety Council with the Department of Health and
the Social Welfare Department have announced that a
large-scale road safety campaign will be launched this summer in
Hong Kong. Chairman
of the Road Safety Campaign Committee under the Road Safety
Council Lawrence Yu said that the World Health Organization (WHO)
has devoted World Health Day 2004, which falls on Wednesday, to
road safety. Despite
Hong Kong's road safety record being relatively good compared to
other cities, the Road Safety Council has attached great
importance to educating drivers and pedestrians, he said. He
noted that every fatal road accident costs the government nearly 2
million HK dollars (256,000 US dollars). Yu
also pointed out that in 2003, pedestrians accounted for 49
percent of the death toll and 70 percent of the fatalities
involved pedestrians aged over 60. [Source:
China View
at Xinhuanet] Back
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International FIA
have guidelines
that could be used by any automobile club SAFE
KIDS Worldwide member countries China, Philippines,
South Korea and Brazil are planning pedestrian
safety events to be held on March 30, 2004. These events will
highlight the hazards children face every day on their way to
school and demonstrate ways to prevent child pedestrian
injuries. FedEx Express and the Alcoa Foundation are
generously supporting these events in the Asia Pacific region
and Brazil this year. Back
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Israel
Road traffic crashes of all types are an enormous, largely overlooked
world health problem, second only to childhood infections and AIDS as the
killers of people between the ages of 5 and 30, according to a major
report released today...
In terms of human life: Since 1948, 21,600 Israelis have died in wars and
security-related incidents; 22,700 have died on its roads...
137 Israelis have been killed on the roads since the beginning of [this]
year – more than 10% above last year's figure. Figures such as these
place Israel in the top bracket of casualties per cars, along with other
third world countries...
A senior police official said that were it not for budgetary restraints,
they could lower the figures by 30 to 40%, but the finance ministry is not
prepared to give higher priority to fighting traffic accidents.
Speaking on Army Radio Wednesday morning, police traffic division head
Cmdr. Yaakov Raz said that Israel's high placing in the world roster is
unfair, since the ration should be accidents per kilometers traveled –
placing Israel in a "good" position in the middle, after Greece,
Spain and other European countries.
However Traffic expert Dr. Moshe Becker says police are usually in a hurry
to report enforcement-related achievements, and their numbers are suspect.
Becker claims that the number of annual casualties is five times higher
than what police are prepared to admit, and bases his reports on insurance
claims rather than reported accidents. Read
the full
article, from the Jerusalem
Post Online Back
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Lesotho The
Lesotho Red Cross Society and the Maluti Mountain Brewery (MMB)
to will devise a programme for the day. Although the venue
for the celebrations is yet to be decided, there has been
suggestions that it be held in Leribe. The preparatory meeting
would make a decision and work with the District Secretary to
finalise matters, said WHO information officer, Mr. Malekele
Phori. (January 24, 2004)
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Malaysia A
perceptive article by Dzullkifli Abdul Razak Amidst
the preoccupation about violence in schools, cases of indiscipline during the
National Service programme and the contentious issues regarding the measles
vaccine, the World Health Day passed almost unnoticed last week. Malaysians
it seemed had too much on their plates to be reminded of another devastating
unresolved issue — road safety. This year's theme for the World Health Day
is "Road Safety is No Accident". It is very appropriate for
Malaysians since many of our road tragedies are indeed "no
accident". "Despite
enormous improvement in road safety in some countries over the past few
decades, nearly 1.2 million people are killed every year in road traffic
crashes around the world," said UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan. This is
more than 3,000 deaths every day. In addition, between 20 and 50 million are
injured annually.
This is definitely a horrendous increase since the first recorded road
accident that occurred in London on Aug 17, 1896. It involved a car, newly
manufactured by the Anglo-French car company. At the inquest, the coroner
declared that this must not happen again. But it is a sad situation today. By
2020, when Malaysia achieves developed nation status, the overall global
figures for road traffic deaths and disabilities will rise by nearly
two-thirds.
It would be interesting to see whether by then Malaysia's transport system
will be at par with its developed nation status. Or will it languish in the
Third World mess as we know it today.
No
doubt the journey out of the Third World mindset can be a long bumpy ride
ahead, but not if we know for sure the road that leads towards the light at
the end of the tunnel.
Full
article here, from the New Straits
Times
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New
Zealand Calendar
of New Zealand events relating to World Health Day and the
rest of the year In
Palmerston North City Council Chambers, two videos will be shown
on April 7: '2040: A message from the future,' and 'Street
Reclaiming – How to get your street back.'
"These are both thought-provoking videos to encourage us
all to view our streets as much more than just a carriageway for
cars." Details. Back
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Nigeria
The
WHO estimates that almost 16,000 people die from injuries
sustained in road mishaps [in Nigeria, each year, and] several
thousands more end up with non-fatal injuries and permanent
disabilities.
Nigeria
is joining the rest of the world to mark World Health Day (WHD)
as recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO). This
year's theme entitled "Road Safety is no Accident" is
dedicated to response to a growing concern about road traffic
injuries.
The
theme is significant for a number of reasons. It is a worrisome
development that the incidence of death and injury as a result
of road accidents is growing day by day.
Fatal
road accidents are on the rise in Nigeria. With one of the
highest road traffic accident rates in the world, accidents and
injuries are the major cause of death in adults under fifty
years in the country. This is a sad fact. Every year, thousands
of people are killed on the roads, the highest numbers being
recorded in the commercial capital of Lagos.
Statistics
from the Nigeria Police show that the number of people killed in
road accidents had risen by more than 150 per cent in 43 years.
The figures, spanning 1955-1998, indicate that 489 people died
in 1955 compared to 6,500 in 1998. Statistics for the injured
are even more staggering in the 43 years, rising from 4,289
persons in 1955 to 17,117 persons in 1998. Full
article, from The
Vanguard (Lagos), via AllAfrica.com
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Oman
MUSCAT
— His Highness Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said, deputy prime
minister for the Council of Ministers, presided over a forum on
road accidents at Al Bustan Palace Hotel on April 8. The forum
was organised by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with
the World Health Organisation (WHO) to mark World Health Day.
In
a statement to the press, Sayyid Fahd affirmed there was great
response to His Majesty the Sultan’s initiative on road
safety, which the Sultanate proposed to be included on the
agenda of the UN General Assembly.
In
an address at the opening ceremony of the forum, Dr Ali bin
Mohammed bin Moosa, minister of health, said the Sultanate
appreciated the decision by WHO regional office for the East
Mediterranean to choose the Sultanate as the venue for the
region’s World Health Day celebrations...
The
minister said the number of injuries [in Oman] ranged from
13,000 to 17,000 cases annually between the years 1999 and 2002.
Around 30 per cent to 45 per cent of those injured were
hospitalised and that accounted for between 2.3 per cent and 3
per cent of the total number of patients admitted to hospital
during the same period. Reported road deaths during that period
were between 472 and 604 cases and that was 7 per cent to 10 per
cent of the total deaths in the Sultanate.
The
minister said compared to the international rates of death from
road accidents during that period the death rates in the
Sultanate, which stood at 25.8 to 35 per 100,000 persons, was
among the highest death rates in the world.
At
the world level 19 deaths occurred per 100,000 people and in the
industrial countries the rate was 12 deaths among every 100,000
people...
[Full
article, from the Times
of Oman]
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Philippines Today
is World Health Day, officially celebrated annually by the World
Health Organization on April 7. This year, the WHO is devoting
World Health Day entirely to road safety. The
timing is just perfect. The day coincides with the yearly exodus
of motorists heading out to the provinces for the Holy Week, just
the right time to remind them of the importance of road safety.
Ford
Group Philippines joins this circle of serendipity for safety by
kicking off its road-safety campaign at the same period. Ford
says this is part of a global effort of Ford Motor Co. “to
reinforce its commitment to occupant and pedestrian safety
through a series of events and road-safety initiatives planned
for the year aimed at reducing accidents, death and injuries
caused by road- traffic collisions.”...
According
to the WHO, although the number of motor vehicles per population
is much higher in developed countries, the toll due to
road-traffic injuries is highest in developing countries
representing more than one million or 88 percent of deaths in
1998. Read this interesting
article here, from ABS-CBN.
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Scotland To
highlight Scotland's commitment to the day, the Scottish Road
Safety Campaign are arranging for a baton to visit all
areas in Scotland. This baton contains a document stating a
commitment to supporting World Health Day which will be signed
by key representatives from local authorities, police forces and
health boards. The baton will be sent on its way from Meadowbank
Stadium by Olympic athlete Yvonne Murray and will finish its
journey on World Health Day at Hampden Park Stadium in Glasgow
on April 7th. More
info >>
______________________________________
Mark Lazarowicz -- Member of Parliament for Edinburgh North and Leith --
has written an article about what is needed in order to increase
road safety in Britain and elsewhere, in relation to World Health
Day and beyond. This
is a highly informative insight; don't miss it! Back
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Serbia
On
the occasion of the World Health Day, a meeting was held at the Belgrade
City Hall, gathering representatives of the Serbian ministries of
interior, health, and capital investment, as well as of the World Health
Organisation (WHO) and the Belgrade City Assembly. Statistical
data on road accidents in Serbia are alarming - the number of crashes
increased from 27,000 in 1992 to 60,000 in 2002. In the same period, the
number of injured rose from 16,000 to 20,000, while an average of 1,500
deaths are registered each year. Of that number, 75 percent are [under]
30 years old. Serbian
Minister of Health Tomica Milosavljevic said that it is high time that
Serbia started to deal with this issue, because the number of road
crashes has doubled in the last ten years. He said that the road safety
is a shared responsibility, calling for expertise of health workers, law
enforcement officials, the local self-government, as well as the
government which must acknowledge that this is a multisectoral problem
which has to be resolved with joint efforts. Head
of the Traffic Police Directorate of the Serbian Ministry of Interior
Colonel Stojadin Jovanovic said that the Directorate will focus on the
prevention of road traffic accidents by conducting preventive campaigns. [Source:
Serbian
Government website] |
|
|
The
Serbian Government used this WHO image to good effect. Look carefully at
the broken lines
Click
here to see it enlarged (as a WHO report cover)
|
Back
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Seychelles
|
|
 *
April 4, 2004:
Among smaller nations, the Seychelles is another
where the Road Safety message of World Health Day is
being heard.
The front cover of the Seychelles
Nation (left) carries this year's slogan, loud and
clear, and it includes this snippet of salient advice:
"Of course there are the unlucky ones who meet that
careless driver in situations and circumstances [where]
they cannot avoid colliding with them, but on the whole,
we are much safer if we remain alert and sober when
driving..." |
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South
America
In its 'World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention' released ahead of World
Health Day, which is celebrated Apr. 7, the World Health Organisation (WHO)
points out that low- and middle-income countries accounted for 90 percent of
traffic crash fatalities in 2002, despite the proportionally smaller number of
cars than in high-income nations.
The 1998 `Review of Traffic Safety - Latin America and Caribbean Region' funded
by the Inter-American Development Bank reported that Uruguay had one of the
highest rates of deaths per 10,000 motor vehicles -- 33.4 -- in Latin America
and the Caribbean, ranking in fourth place after Venezuela (58.4), Colombia
(54.9), and Belize (34.2).
(Also
see Brazil, above.) Back
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UK
(also see 'Scotland')
|
The
UK Department for Transport has today published the First Review of
the Government's Road Safety Strategy to coincide with World Health
Day, which this year is focussing on the global road safety challenge.
The
review charts the progress to date on achieving the Government's road
safety targets and shows that in the first three years of the
strategy there has been:
-
a
17% drop in the number of people killed or seriously injured on the
roads, and
-
a
33% reduction in the number of children killed and seriously
injured.
The
strategy review highlights the areas where real successes in road safety
have been achieved. These include:
-
Banning
the use of hand-held mobile phones,
-
The
national roll out of safety cameras following the pilot which showed
a 35% reduction in killed and seriously injured,
-
The
introduction of the hazard perception test to the driving test,
-
The
good recognition and success of the Think! branding, with
recognition by about 7 in 10 of all drivers and 9 in 10 of drivers
aged 16 - 24,
-
The
significant reductions seen in pedestrian and cyclist casualties,
-
The
new Local Transport Plan process, which allows local authorities to
adopt a longer-term approach and more flexibility in delivering the
strategy and casualty reductions at the local level,
-
The
continuing effectiveness of Local Safety Schemes, where local
authorities estimate that those delivered in 2002-03 alone would
save nearly 5,000 casualties.
It
also details the areas which will require continuing attention as the
strategy develops. These include:
-
The
[overall] number of deaths which has not fallen significantly since
1998,
-
The
number of car occupant deaths
-
The
number of motorcyclist deaths and injuries,
-
The
rise in drink-drive related deaths and injuries.
-
Engaging
more employers to develop at work road safety policies for employees
who drive at work
Road
safety Minister David Jamieson said, "The Road Safety Strategy
provided a challenging set of targets for casualty reduction and I am
delighted with the progress we are making. There are many people alive
and well today who would otherwise have been injured or even killed.
"I am particularly pleased with the progress we are making on
reducing child death and injury, which is already down 33%. But we are
not complacent. Road safety is eve | | 
