EASST partners are pledging to #slowdown for the Fourth UN Global Road Safety Week this week (8th – 14th May). Find out why they think this message is so important in their countries and what they are doing to mark the week below:
Armenia
Working in partnership with local police and the youth centre ‘Hope Marguerite’, the National Road Safety Council of Armenia are out on the streets of Kapan City this week in Armenia’s rural Syunik province distributing flyers and talking to locals to raise awareness of the importance of road safety following a recent increase in the number of road traffic collisions.
Azerbaijan
95 per cent of crashes in Azerbaijan in 2016 occurred as a result of drivers violating road traffic laws. 23 per cent of these cases were related to speeding. EASST partner the National Automobile Club of Azerbaijan (AMAK) are asking people to think about their loved ones while driving by slowing down.
Belarus
Georgia
In Georgia, where 1352 people were either injured or killed on the roads in the first 10 months of 2016, the Partnership for Road Safety (PfRS) are calling for drivers to #slowdown for their loved ones. The PfRS are working hard this week to increase awareness on the risks of speeding in Georgian towns and cities. They will be holding street actions, distributing stickers and other materials with students and local school children.
Greece
Greece has the third highest road fatality rate in all of the EU and with 46 per cent of all road traffic incidents related to speeding, the #slowdown campaign is vital. This week Make Roads Safe Hellas will incorporate a new chapter into their road safety education programme. Helping children understand the importance of not speeding.
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan has the highest road fatality rate in the EASST region, and the highest of the 52 European countries mentioned in the WHO Global Status Report 2015. With an urban speed limit exceeding the recommended minimum of 50mp/h, it is important that drivers learn the importance of slowing down. To mark the week EASST partner, Common Road NGO, have been monitoring road crossings outside schools and asking drivers to #slowdown.
Kyrgyzstan
In Kyrgyzstan, more than 1,000 people die on the road each year, which is on average 2-3 deaths a day. As such, this week EASST partner, Road Safety Kyrgyzstan, will be aiming to raise awareness of the dangers of speeding amongst state institutions and the public in order to take measures and change this desperate situation.
Moldova
In 2015 there were 2527 road traffic crashes in Moldova. For such a small country, this number is unacceptable. To mark the UN Global Road Safety Week EASST partners the Automobile Club of Moldova (ACM) have teamed up with 12 celebrity ambassadors in a mass media campaign calling on drivers to #slowdown.
The ACM have also been working with the Moldovan Parliament to encourage drivers and road safety decision makers to sign up to the new Manifesto #RoadSafety.
Read more about the Parliamentary launch of the #slowdown campaign here.
Tajikistan
In Tajikistan, children account for around 20 per cent of those injured on the road. In 2016 a survey conducted by EASST partners, the Young Generation of Tajikistan (YGT), found that of 375 vehicles passing school gates in Penjikent, the average speed was 74 km/h, despite the area having a 40km/h limit! This week the YGT are working with their Young Road Inspectors to organise #slowdown days to stop speeding near their schools.
