At the meeting, the National Traffic Safety Committee said that road traffic accidents cause about 1.19 million deaths and up to 50 million injuries worldwide each year, with more than 90% of deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries.
Road traffic injuries are currently the leading cause of death for children globally. Without immediate action, road traffic injuries are projected to be the seventh leading cause of death by 2030. Countries around the world are paying a high price for motorized traffic.
The estimated cost of preventing road traffic deaths and injuries ranges from 1-7% of a country’s GDP. Meanwhile, road traffic deaths and serious injuries are entirely preventable through effective, targeted road safety management and adequate resource mobilization.
Mr. Le Kim Thanh, Vice Chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee, said that the road safety development manual was compiled from the road safety manual of the World Road Association, published in 2003, to guide countries in road safety activities, towards achieving the global road safety goals in the decade 2011 - 2020. Up to now, the handbook has undergone 2 revisions and updates (in 2015 and 2019) with many new solutions and lessons learned; to guide the implementation of the global road safety goals in the decade 2021 - 2030, including reducing the number of deaths and injuries caused by road traffic accidents by 50% by 2030.
In Vietnam, the Prime Minister issued Decision 2060 approving the National Strategy to ensure road traffic safety for the 2021-2030 period and vision to 2045.
The goal is to reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by road traffic accidents by 5-10% annually in a sustainable manner, moving towards building a society with a safe, smooth, convenient, efficient and environmentally friendly traffic system; a suitable, effective and efficient traffic safety management system; safe, modern and environmentally friendly traffic infrastructure and means of transport; traffic participants with knowledge, skills and awareness of complying with the law on traffic order and safety, forming a culture of safe traffic; having a timely and effective emergency and treatment system for traffic accident victims; applying advanced scientific and technological achievements in the field of ensuring traffic order and safety.
Appreciating the efforts of the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation (AIPF), especially the team of experts who participated in compiling the road safety development handbook, Mr. Le Kim Thanh said that the book has brought a comprehensive approach to road safety work when introducing the concept of a road safety system. Mr. Thanh requested that agencies, units and experts participating in the meeting actively contribute comments to review, edit and perfect the handbook to make it easy to understand and apply. Thereby, realizing it into action to strive to achieve the goal of the Decade of Action for Road Safety in the period 2021 - 2030.
Sharing about the role of road management agencies in the road safety system, Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, University of Transport, said that the Government and road management agencies are responsible for providing safe infrastructure and operating the road network effectively. According to Ms. Huong, the handbook shows the content of the requirement for management agencies to change their approach from focusing on individual errors to building a system to minimize the risks and consequences of accidents, so that even when drivers make mistakes, they are still safe.
Source: https://cand.com.vn/Giao-thong/phan-dau-keo-giam-50-thuong-vong-do-tai-nan-giao-thong-i762362/
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