Engaging the media in Romania - Global Road Safety Partnership

13.12.2012

Romania is among the worst performing countries in Europe in terms of its ability to reduce road crash fatalities and serious injuries over the past 10 years. Public awareness of the issue is also low. In an effort to increase public awareness and therefore contribute to sustainable improvement, GRSP Romania organized a road safety workshop that engaged journalists and encouraged more, and more informed reporting on the issue of road safety.

Held on November 20, the workshop brought into discussion the problem of road safety in Romania and the necessity of active collaboration between journalists, authorities, businesses and civil society. To help the journalists better understand the importance and the gravity of road safety as an issue, road crashes were presented from a number of perspectives. They were shown as:

a humanitarian disaster of great proportion
an institutional and public health problem linking the impact brought upon victims and families with the cost to society
a social responsibility for business

young-cambodian-adults-assisting-traffic-police-to-educate-offenders Attended by a large number of journalists representing print and online publications, TV, radio and blogs, the workshop was an important step in helping initiate a dialogue among stakeholders. Following the event, a number of articles and blogs have been published that will serve to increase the level of awareness and understanding of this critical social, humanitarian and economic issue in Romania.

A high number of road safety specialists answered GRSP Romania’s invitation to deliver presentations and experiences at the workshop, including representatives from the Traffic Police Directorate, Interministerial Council for Road Safety, Ministry of Education and Research, GRSP Romania, AMZS Slovenia, World Health Organization, National Red Cross Society, Apa Nova Bucharest, Michelin Romania and Renault Technologie Roumanie.

Thanks also must go to the workshop sponsors: Michelin Romania, Renault Technologie Roumanie, Apa Nova Bucharest, Groupama, Vodafone and the National Union of Road Hauliers (UNTRR) from Romania. Their support is further evidence that road safety in Romania has the active involvement of the business sector.