Road Safety Advocacy
To minimize death and injury on the roads, advocacy for more road safety is necessary. Advocacy is the act of arguing for action on behalf of a particular issue and the process of influencing, informing and assisting decision and policy makers. The case should be based on well documented studies and numbers. Only with good information can good decisions be made. Sometimes advocacy targets media, sometimes the general public, but decision makers are normally the primary target.
Global organizations like the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and UNAIDS are global leaders when it comes to advocacy for the vulnerable. The International Red Cross working in accordance with the Geneva Conventions advocates for humanitarian principles and action, to defend the cause of vulnerable people and victims of conflicts or other disasters. Communication and advocacy are very important elements in raising awareness, changing attitudes, sharing expertise and experience, and raising funds. UNAIDS has produced a guide on advocacy. It focuses on HIV/AIDS prevention among injecting drug users. However it offers good general guidance on the principles of advocacy and the “advocacy process” from doing an analysis, developing a strategy to implementation and evaluation. It also covers use of research, community based approaches and working with the mass media.
A good example of road safety advocacy activities at the global level is the Make Roads Safe campaign. It launches a constant flow of videos and reports documenting the need and organizes high-level events with well known figure heads of the world like Kofi Annan, Tony Blair, Desmond Tutu, and Michael Schumacher speaking on behalf of the cause, as well as working with national partners to mobilize people to sign petitions and lobby governments. The purpose is to increase awareness of road safety and adding the issue of global road traffic injuries to the G8 and UN agendas, pushing for declarations, UN resolutions and recently to press for a ministerial conference in Moscow in 2009. The campaign uses strong messages to get the necessary attention eg: a child dies every 3 minutes, and that road safety is an issue of human rights.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has been supporting collaboration among nongovernmental organizations advocating for road safety and the rights of injured persons and their families.
On a regional level the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) is an independent, non-profitmaking organisation dedicated to the reduction of the number and severity of transport crash injuries in Europe. ETSC seeks to identify and promote effective measures on the basis of international scientific research and best practice in areas which offer the greatest potential for a reduction in transport crashes and casualties. Founded in 1993, ETSC provides an impartial source of expert advice on transport safety matters to the European Commission, the European Parliament, and member states.
Road safety advocacy is also undertaken at the local level by individuals, community groups or national NGO’s or not for profit organisations. Often they will be advocating on specific issues like pedestrian safety, support for victims, drink drive problems, seatbelts, or demanding more traffic policing.
American Association for Safe International Travel (ASIRT) has good links to the US Congress. ASIRT serves to make the U.S. Congress more aware of road safety as a global issue and they are now encouraging U.S. embassies to inform American travelers of risks of road travel abroad. ASIRT also advocates that Congress mandate U.S. agencies with expertise in road safety and injury treatment to provide greater road safety and crash prevention assistance to the developing world.
