Global Road Safety Week

Held from dates are not confirmed

According to U.N. - Road traffic injuries are a major but neglected public health challenge that requires concerted efforts for effective and sustainable prevention. Of all the systems with which people have to deal every day, road traffic systems are the most complex and the most dangerous. Worldwide, an estimated 1.2 million people are killed in road crashes each year and as many as 50 million are injured. Projections indicate that these figures will increase by about 65% over the next 20 years unless there is new commitment to prevention. Nevertheless, the tragedy behind these figures attracts less mass media attention than other, less frequent types of tragedy. Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death worldwide among young people aged 10-24 years. Each year nearly 400 000 people under 25 die on the world’s roads – on average more than 1000 a day. Most of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries and among vulnerable road users – pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and those using public transport. According to WHO Report - The highest country rates are found in some Latin American countries (42.2 per 100 000 population in El Salvador, 24.0 per 100 000 in Brazil and 22.7 per 100 000 in Venezuela), as well as some countries in Europe (24.3 per 100 000 in Latvia, 21.2 per 100 000 in Lithuania and 19.9 per 100 000 in the Russian Federation), and Asia (22.7 per 100 000 in the Republic of Korea, 20.9 per 100 000 in Thailand and 15.6 per 100 000 in China).

History - The first UN General Assembly session on the global road safety crisis was held on April 14th, 2004 and followed on April 15th, 2004 by the 1st UN Stakeholders Forum on Global Road Safety. The UN Stakeholders Forum convened a multi-sectoral assembly of representatives from the private sector, civil society, international agencies and national governments to foster the development of a global, collaborative mission to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries. The United Nations General Assembly adopted UN Resolution A/RES/58/289, Improving global road safety, to recognize the need for the UN system to support efforts to address global road safety issues. The First United Nations Global Road Safety Week was called for in the October 2005 United Nations General Assembly resolution A/60/5 on Improving global road safety. The resolution invites the United Nations Regional Commissions and the World Health Organization (WHO) to jointly organize the Week. The Week will be modelled after previous road safety weeks orchestrated by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and after World Health Day 2004. The First UN Global Road Safety Week was held on April 23 – 29th, 2007, focusing on the world’s youth. Events took place in over 100 countries around the world along with a World Youth Assembly held at UN headquarters in Geneva

Events - During the Global Road Safety Week people adopt a road safety declaration for and by young people. Television stations frequently air programs dealing with traffic issues. Many events like stage shows, road signs education, visit to traffic park etc. educate people, especially children and teenagers on the importance of following traffic rules.

Holiday Status - It is not a holiday.