Road safety discussion at IBSU
07.10.2015Octomber 6 held the open discussion with IBSU students about road safety, why it is so important for us and how it affects our daily lives. Rector of the International Black Sea University Prof. Dr. Ilyas Chiloglu hosted Georgian and foreign guests, they agreed on future cooperation. Thereafter continued public lecture.
Kate McMahon ( who was until retirement in 2005 a member of the Government Economic Service, working on road safety since 1986, and latterly Head of Road Safety Strategy Division in the GB Department for Transport. She was awarded the OBE and the Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents Distinguished Service Award.) spoke about road safety: Why it matters, also she said that every year nearly 1.3 million people die in road crashes and 20-50 million are injured. Without action deaths on the road are predicted to reach 1.9 million each year by 2020.
In general – half the deaths globally are the most vulnerable: pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists.
Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for people aged 15-29 years. Every day 1000 young people under 25 die on the roads. Middle-income countries, like Georgia, account for 80% of global road deaths but have 72% of world population and only 52% of the world’s registered vehicles.
Emma MacLennan, Director, Eastern Alliance of Safe and Sustainable Transport (EASST) gave a brief introduction to the theme of road safety, she talked about her professional experience of working at Ministry of Transport of Great Britain, she also shared information about the origins of the study of the issue and the UK's experience in this field, then Emma MacLennan will spoke about her organization EASST, the importance of regional cooperation on road safety issues and showed some good examples of campaigns form other countries.
Gela Kvashilava talked about the latest local initiatives in Tbilisi and Georgia. Moderator of the meeting –was Dmitry Sambuk, Director of Development and Education, EASST.
On lecture noted that road crashes are a global problem. Young people are particularly affected and campaigns and education programmes need to target the risks that young people are exposed to.