Since January of this year, and with EASST funding, The National Road Safety Council NGO of Armenia have been very industrious, implementing several different activities directed at the many varied aspects of road safety. They have been working with mass media, professional drivers, have tackled women’s involvement in road safety and have also conducted lessons in schools to educate children in the importance of road safety.
In May 2015, The NRSC NGO, together with leading Armenian news agency Armen Press, held a workshop at the agency’s headquarters in Yerevan, aimed at examining how news reporters cover road traffic collisions and how to report on them in order to help prevent subsequent incidents by using their position to educate the general public. Following the workshop, a press conference took place, and among the participants were representatives of the 5 TV Channels, 4 Radio stations, 4 newspapers and 8 sources of electronic media. This high profile workshop was the follow up to the media regional conference, organised in 2010 by NRSC NGO with the involvement of all Armenian media, as well as representatives of the Georgian media. As a result of these events, the coverage of road traffic collisions in the media has risen by 80%.
Earlier this year The National Road Safety Council NGO collaborated with the Women’s Automobile Club of Armenia to organise a Road Safety Week. This week of activities, which featured a rally, were held to remember the victims of road crashes. The rally had wide media coverage throughout Armenia. Also during the Road Safety Week, NRSC NGO and the Women’s Automobile Club conducted Road Safety lessons and presentations in schools, and gathered signatures on the streets of Yerevan for the Save Kids Lives initiative. Later this month, NRSC NGO will again collaborate with the Women’s Automobile Club, to conduct an Eco and Safe Driving event, aimed at local businesses and professional women drivers. Despite such a busy year so far, National Road Safety Council NGO have also continued thier their work with the TRACECA Project, organising further workshops with the involvement of many government officials, Road Police staff, The Ministry of Transport, the Emergency Services and other road safety related NGOs. A visit to the Yerevan Vehicle Inspection Site was also organised for those NGOs by NRSC NGO.
NRSC NGO Director, Poghos Shahinyan, has also continued to work hard to raise awareness of the importance of other methods of improving road safety in Armenia, and has given two interviews on TV talk shows which related to the importance and methods of speed enforcement as well as parking issues.
