Project EDWARD, European Day Without A Road Death - 21st September 2017
TISPOL seeks support from all road users for Project EDWARD: European Day Without A Road Death – Thursday 21 September 2017
• On average, 70 people still die every day on Europe’s roads
• Every road death prevented has an estimated value of €1.94 million (£1.65 million)*
• Spare an extra thought for safety and sign the pledge at www.projectedward.eu THIS YEAR’S European Day Without A Road Death is taking place across Europe on Thursday 21 September. Devised in 2016 as Project EDWARD by the European Traffic Police Network (TISPOL), the initiative aims to raise awareness of road safety and reduce the number of people killed every day on the roads of Europe.
Project EDWARD has the support of senior politicians, police chiefs, policy makers and road safety professionals, many of whom have recorded short video messages for the Project EDWARD website (www.projectedward.eu).
The European Commission is also backing Project EDWARD, with Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc participating in a road safety event in Estonia on 21 September.
UK support for Project EDWARD comes in the form of video messages on the projectedward.euwebsite from:
• Roads Minister Jesse Norman MP
• PACTS Chairman Barry Sheerman MP
• Scottish Transport Minister Hamza Yousaf MSP
• the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA)
• the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC)
• Road Safety GB
• Road Safety Scotland
• IAM RoadSmart
• Highways England
• The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency
• GEM Motoring Assist …and many more individuals and organisations. TISPOL will be joining representatives of the European Transport Safety Council, the International Highways Association, the World Road Association and the Italian State Police at a conference to be held in Rome on Project EDWARD day. The event will be live-streamed via Facebook.
TISPOL believes it is vital to gain the support of national governments, as well as winning the hearts and minds of individual road users, in order to bring about sustained and significant reductions in death and injury on Europe’s roads.
TISPOL President Paolo Cestra comments: "The tragic toll of road deaths is seen every day by police officers and collision investigators. Every day across Europe, around 70 people will set off on road journeys, but they won’t make it home. That means 70 families will receive a knock at the door with the life-shattering news that they have lost a loved one in what was most likely an entirely preventable crash.
"With every road death, so many other lives are fractured and ruined. Quite simply we do not want that to happen to any family, and we will do everything we can to reduce the toll of road fatalities.
"But we cannot win on our own. Gaining the support of individual road users is vital, and we know that if everyone is prepared to reflect on the risks they face and the risks they may pose to others, then we can have safer drivers, safer road users and safer journeys.”
A day without a road death is of course the vision we should strive for every day, not just on 21 September, according to Paolo Cestra. "As a simple way of raising awareness, I am convinced that Project EDWARD can once again be a great success, whether or not we achieve zero deaths on the day itself.
"So we urge everyone: please think about the way you drive, ride or cross the road. Think about how you can reduce risk by always wearing a seatbelt, keeping to speeds that are both legal and appropriate for the conditions, not driving after drinking alcohol or taking drugs, and not using a mobile phone at the wheel.
"If everyone commits to making small changes, then the road safety improvements will be huge and we will achieve big reductions in the number of people who are killed or seriously injured. So please share our road safety messages on social media using #ProjectEDWARD, and sign the Project EDWARD pledge at www.projectedward.eu.”
Project EDWARD 2016:
• In the 48-hour period of 20 and 21 September 2016, #ProjectEDWARD achieved 19.5 million Twitter hits
• #ProjectEDWARD was trending in the Twitter top five in the UK, Ireland and many European countries on 21 September
• #ProjectEDWARD was trending in the top 50 Twitter topics globally on 21 September
• ‘What is Project EDWARD?’ was a Twitter ‘moment (ie a headline story) on 21 September
• 30 days after Project EDWARD day 2016, 19 out of 31 participating countries had managed a day with no death on their roads
• Records show that a total of 43 people died on Europe’s roads on 21 September 2016 (however, Project EDWARD takes no direct credit this, because there are so many factors that would need to be assessed and understood)
