Today is European Day Without A Road Death
Project EDWARD (European Day Without A Road Death) is taking place across Europe today.
Devised in 2016 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.
The campaign 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.
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 President Paolo Cestra said: "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."
Today is set to be the European Day Without A Road Death. Join us in supporting this initiative by driving with care. #ProjectEDWARD pic.twitter.com/wLDHk0E5fD
— RSA Ireland (@RSAIreland) September 21, 2017
A day without a road death is of course the vision we should strive for every day, not just today, 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.”
