Why more people may die in 2015 (II)

There is no doubt that the present government has demonstrated strong political will in supporting road safety strategies in the country. However, the current economic challenges will deal a big blow to the efforts to address the second leg of the WHO recommendation which is “adequate and sustainable resources.”Recall also that we are in 2015, […]

There is no doubt that the present government has demonstrated strong political will in supporting road safety strategies in the country. However, the current economic challenges will deal a big blow to the efforts to address the second leg of the WHO recommendation which is “adequate and sustainable resources.”
Recall also that we are in 2015, the year that we are expected to cut road traffic crash fatalities by 50percent across Africa following the 2007 Accra Declaration by Ministers of Transport and Healthwho  resolved to “work together to stop the growing epidemic of deaths and injuries on our roads, promote road safety as a health, transportation, law enforcement, education, and development priority for our nations, set and achieve measurable national targets for road safety and traffic-injury prevention in all member states to contribute to the achievement of Africa’s overall targets to reduce accident fatalities by half by 2015.”
They also resolved to designate a lead agency, with legal backing and adequate and sustainable financial resources to ensure the achievement of the targets, take necessary steps to source sustainable funding for development and management of transport infrastructure and services and work with multilateral and bilateral donors to develop road safety projects and programmes to build national road safety management capacity.
Other resolutions included to strengthen pre-hospital and emergency services in order to provide timely and appropriate care to road traffic-injured patients to minimise their effects and long-term disability, mainstream road safety into new and existing road infrastructure development programmes through  convincing governments to devote a percentage of their investment in infrastructure development to road safety programmes, improve the collection, management and use of data on road deaths and injuries so as to formulate evidence-based policies by addressing the non-reporting of accidents, and to harmonise data that originate from different sources.
They equally resolved to ensure the enactment and enforcement of laws associated with driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs; inappropriate and excessive speeding; non-use of helmets; driver licensing; road-worthy vehicles; and the use of mobile phones, implement specific education programmes among drivers with regard to safe driving, particularly with issues associated with speed. In this regard, promote road safety initiatives at the local, municipal and national levels, for children and other road users.
African countries were urged to pay special attention to rural transport and ensure that adequate resources are provided for studies on rural dimensions of road safety and the implementation of their outcome and encourage African countries to ratify and adhere to international treaties and conventions such as the Vienna Conventions on road traffic and road signs and signals.
At the second African Road Safety Conference in 2011 convened by the Economic Commission for Africa,the African Road Safety Action Plan 2011-2020 was formulated and endorsed subsequently by the African Union Conference of Ministers in charge of Transport and adopted by the heads of states in Luandain 2012.As at today, the progress made is minimal across board.
As we gradually sail into the challenges of 2015,the reluctance by players in the economy to appreciate the need to become active in road safety strategies despite efforts by the Corps remains a challenge in addition to the increasing bad driving habits listed at the beginning.Thereis also the concern over inadequacy of emergencies along our roads. Along major highways, it will take almost an hour or two driving before stumbling on a hospital.Remember that even where these hospitals exist, you may be further tasked to pay for a card at a hospital while the victim is left unattended to.
All of these, including the issues of funding and logistics, compound the efforts of the commission to save lives. We are not talking about the state of our roads, which might not get the same level of attention because of dwindling resources  despite the efforts of government which like I maintained earlier deserves our commendation.Since land transportation remains the preferred mode, we all need to pray and give government all the support to achieve this dream because the key to safety on our roads is infrastructural improvement.
This point was made when I once stated that the success of effective road safety is capital. Globally, the interplay between government, the private sector and the citizenry is the magic. In such societies, they have learnt how to reduce road traffic injuries even as traffic levels rise through system approach, which tackles driver behaviour, vehicle design and performance and the safety of road infrastructure. So, while government battles road infrastructure, the private sector and other stakeholders, including safety practitioners, would be expected to play ball by giving Mr. President all the support necessary in the area of drivers’ behavior while those in the motor business must desist from flooding the market with vehicles whose safety standards fall below global standards.
There is no doubt that road traffic crashes, deaths and fatalities have reduced compared to the figure for previous years based on some interventions that work.However, since road crashes are avoidable, there is the need to speed up more workable interventions to redress the projections. The higher responsibility rests on road users who must sharpen our safety consciousness by making the choices to redress this projection.
Concluded