Australian Road Safety Awards Launched

http://www.caradvice.com.au/118408/australian-road-safety-awards-launched/

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) the lives of five million people could be saved and a massive fifty million serious injuries prevented over the next decade if the world embraces the implementation of road safety programmes more seriously.



As part of the process to help stop the ever increasing world-wide road toll, the United Nations General Assembly has declared the first ever “Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020”.

The annual Australian road toll is relatively minor on the world scale (roughly 1,500 per year over the last five years – compared to 500,000+/year worldwide), however for each recorded fatality there is about 12 serious injuries which are also a huge emotional and financial drain on the nation.

The good folks who run the Fatality Free Friday Road Safety Foundation (FFFRSF) have registered with the FIA Foundation in support of the UN’s decade of action plan. As part of the FFFRSF’s commitment, they are launching the Australian Road Safety Awards.



The first one of its kind will be held in November 2011 to recognise all significant innovations that have helped improve road safety in Australia.

The aim is to gain media, government and public awareness about road and driver safety to help promote solutions to road safety issues across all sectors.



FFFRSF Chairman Russell White says “As well as formally recognising stakeholders’ commitment to improving road safety outcomes, the Road Safety Awards will encourage further community engagement, professional development for corporate organisations and most importantly, individual action on reducing road trauma. The Awards will encourage new standards of excellence in the road safety industry and in turn, will act as a catalyst to increase road safety activities across the nation.”

The foundation has already just finishing running the World’s Largest Driving Lesson (4 May 2011) and is gearing up for Fatality Free Friday (27 May 2011).

Categories for the national Awards programme include

Community Programs;
School Programs;
Small Business Fleets;
Automotive Industry Safety;
Transport Industry Award;
Corporate Fleet Safety;
Indigenous Road Safety;
Local Government Initiatives;
State Government Initiatives;
Innovation;
Media;
Founder’s Award for Outstanding Achievement.
Got any great ideas about improving road safety or know an organisation/person who is actively doing just that? Leave us a comment and let us know. Also don’t forget you have to register to be considered (open from tomorrow).

How do you think CarAdvice can help to promote road safety initiatives? Remember, we are not talking about more speed camera and ‘slow down stupid’ type campaigns, but the more practical solutions that actually work.