Rawalpindi - This year, on 18th November (third Sunday), the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is being celebrated with the theme of Safer Road and Mobility which is based on Pillar 2 of the Global Plan for Decade of Action for Road Safety.
Every year, third Sunday in the month of November is commemorated as the WRD in remembrance of millions of victims of road crashes and their families and communities as well as to pay tribute to the dedicated emergency responders including rescuers, police and medical professionals, who daily deal with the traumatic aftermaths of road crashes. This is 23rd anniversary of start of observing the World Day, which also attracts attention towards 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty; fight inequality and injustice and tackle climate change by 2030 which is even not possible without working on one of the main indicators of health, SDG 3.6, the number of deaths due to the road traffic accidents.
The cumulative toll of road traffic injured and causalities is truly terrific. Each year, millions of newly-injured and bereaved people from all over the world add up to the countless who already suffer. Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of the death among the young people, 15- 29 years, and 91% of the world’s fatalities on roads occur in low- and middle-income countries like Pakistan, even though these countries have approximately half of the world’s vehicles.
Each year, approximately 1.3 million people die world over and over 50 million get disabled due to road traffic accidents. According to statistics, Punjab Emergency Service Rescue 1122 alone is dealing with around 900 road traffic crashes every day, which means about 700 families get traumatised when their solely responsible persons of the house gets injured or dies in road crashes.
Road deaths and injuries are sudden, violent, and traumatic and have long-lasting impact on families. The grief and distress experienced by road crashes may not be measured in digits. Many of the crashes can be prevented with collective efforts by the government and community response to road crashes.
The key factors for road traffic crashes involve thrilling behaviour , violation of traffic rules, speeding, impaired driving, deficient road infrastructure, no use of seat belt, no use of child restraints, failing to wear motorcycle helmets and cell phone use/texting during road use.
The interesting fact is that 80% to 90% road crashes are occurring due to behaviour of road users. Further, death rate in road crashes can increase due to unavailability of emergency services with trained staff as swift and professional response minimises further injuries and death. The residents of Punjab are lucky to have a comprehensive and integrated model of emergency service, Rescue1122 through which government of Punjab is providing every resident right to emergency care at his or her door steps on a single emergency call. The Rescue 1122 has rescued over 6.5 million victims in different emergencies including 2.3 million road traffic crashes by timely response and professional management in case of all emergencies. The advocacy campaigns focusing on community education on road safety to reduce the number of accidents are being held across Punjab by community safety wing of the Rescue 1122.
Actually, road safety needs to have collective efforts of public and private sector with strict enforcement. Concrete step towards road safety which can reduce exposure to risk; prevent road traffic crashes and promote safety culture is an effective licensing programme in all provinces, including road safety and safety related education in curriculum, strict enforcement of traffic rules, impartial research and development on road safety, a clear road safety policy, effective legislation to cover pedestrians and other road users like, non motorised vehicles, slow-moving carts and extensive media campaign to make our communities civilised road users.
Launching of National Road Safety Strategy 2018 -2030 by the government is a positive step as it covers all mentioned areas. Furthermore, it is also essential to implement the same in letter and spirit to reduce the leading cause of death.
Rescue 1122 pays rich tribute to all concerned organisations that provide immediate help in road crashes and requests all road users to act as responsible citizens and ensure their safety and safety of the others when on roads or using roads. The Punjab emergency service invites communities to join hands with Rescue 1122 by enrolment as Rescue Scout, become safety ambassador and contribute in promotion of safety culture in the country. Rescue 1122 is providing a platform of volunteering service for developing disaster resilient, healthier and safer communities. We as responsible society must do commitment on this day that we will play our positive role and behave responsibly while using road for developing safer communities in Pakistan.
–The writer is head of Community Safety and Information at Rescue 1122, Punjab and can be reached at deeba_uroog@yahoo.com
deeba shahnaz akhter
