Programmes for International Road Accident Victims’ Day
“Youth Task Force,” a non-Governmental organisation, in association with Accident Research Centre will organise various programmes to mark the International Road Accident Victims’ Day on November 18.Founder of the Youth Task Force S. Suresh told The Hindu that the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Accident Victims – the third Sunday of November each year – is a time to remember the millions of people killed in road accidents.“In a split second, an accident transforms forever the course of life of a family. Behind each statistic, there are fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, grandchildren, colleagues, classmates and friends,” says World Health Organisation.The day was designated by the United Nations General Assembly in 2005.Road accidents were the second leading cause of death globally among young people aged between five and 29 and the third leading cause of death among people aged between 30 and 44.Accidents killed 1.2 million people every year and injured or disabled as many as 50 million more. The economic impact was also significant. In low and middle-income countries, the cost of road traffic accident injuries was estimated at $ 65 billion, exceeding the total amount these countries received for development.Economic setback caused to countries because of road accidents ranged between 1 per cent and 2 per cent of the gross national product amounting to $ 518 billion every year.
The task force will interview people over phone, on television and in person. The information gained will be published in Faces, which reflected the emotions of the road accident survivors and their kin.The Accident Research Centre, a unit of Road Safety Resource Centre, will launch a campaign to identify the root causes of accidents.Forms will be given to road accident survivors and the relatives of the victims. The data obtained would be of use to many, such as the vehicle design engineers, road safety analysts, officials planning roads, vehicle owners, driver trainers, remedial engineering specialist, public health professionals, accident lab experts, economists and social science researchers and NGOs.
On the day the survivors and family members of victims would stand on a platform carrying placards depicting the nature of accident. According to the severity of the accident the placards will be coloured in red – fatal; amber – disabled; and green – survivor.The placard would have two columns – name and age of the victim and cause of the accident. The priority was not on ‘who caused the accident but what caused it. . The same can be pasted on vehicles, public places, e-mails and on the victim’s premises.The format can be downloaded from driversday.org. Those interested can register on the website or contact details (044) 65133133 or 99411 76070.Websites: driversday.org, freshindian.org. email: suresh@freshindian.org.
