The Institute of Road Safety Traffic Environment Pakistan (IRSTEP) registered member of the world wide body International Association for Driver Education has launched country wide two-year (2009-2010) campaign 'Road Safety- Climate Change' geared to reduce road traffic clashes and slow down pace of climate change.
The two-year long campaign will be carried out in collaboration with federal, provincial and district governments and other stakeholders with special focus on training and education of drivers and creating awareness about road safety and hazards of environmental degradation.
During the campaign various programmes about Road Safety and climate changes will be held in school, colleges and universities. Various events to be arranged during the campaign include seminars, workshop, road shows, driver counselling, motorcycle riders counselling, film shows, traffic weeks, safe and fuel efficient car rallies, motor cycle safe and fuel efficient riding competition, driver health and safety convention, driving and riding skill test.
IRSTEP also plans to hold road accident first aid demos, traffic educational classes, school road safety drill school lollypop man demo, colourful floats with road safety and climate change messages and murals, display of colourful hoardings banners, streamers, multi colours traffic flow promotional flags, road quiz during the campaign.
Under the campaign various events will be held at motorways, national highways, Provincial highways, inter-city roads, city roads in collaboration with federal government, provincial governments city district governments, national highways authorities, motorways and national highways police, traffic police, educational institutes, human rights activates, environment NGO's bar councils, companies, vehicle manufacturing companies, communication companies, print and electronic media, civil society, transport associations.
World bodies such as WHO, UNO, International Road Federation, IVV, International Road Transport would also collaborate in this regard. Chairman Kaiser J. Khatana said the growing traffic congestion on our roads poses serious danger to human life and there are many factors involved in this ugly situation such as defective Traffic Engineering, inadequate of law enforcement, lack of driver's education and degradation of environment. Therefore there should be a focus on road user's behaviour, improvement of infrastructure safety and maintenance of vehicles.
He said every year thousands of people are injured and many are disabled while more than seven thousand people die in road accidents. Everyone of them has a network of family, friends, neighbours, colleagues and classmate who are effected, emotionally or otherwise. Family struggle with poverty when they lose a breadwinner or have the added expense of caring for disable family member. Current figures are alarming enough, even more alarming are the trends. If they continue the number of peoples killed every day on the roads will keep on increasing.
He said Pakistan is 12th most vulnerable country facing worst environmental degradation which would cost 5 percent of the GDP every year, automobile emissions' are major contributor to this situation.
He said, if corrective measures are not taken, pollution will reach to a point where it will also have serious effect on water supply, agri production, marine life besides causing flooding leading to inundation of low-lying areas displacing millions of people. Health of people would also be effected with diarrhoeal disease, intensifying rural poverty is likely to increase, he added. He said in view of the aforementioned factors, prevention programmes are to be started to think about ways in which awareness can be raised and action promotes to reverse the current trends to slow down pace of climate change.
He said realising the critical nature of the problems of road safety and climate change, The institute of Road Safety Traffic Environment Pakistan has launched the campaign. He said we are trying to reduce road accidents and to slow the pace of climate change with a new view point and by applying different kind of strategies and techniques of safe driving, save fuel and money which cut down greenhouse gas emissions. Changes in the attitudes will be achieved with a big change or with a number of small, simple changes, which can add up to a lot, he added.