Safer Roads by Design™
Safer Roads, Safer World
According the to World Health Organization:
- More than 1.2 million people die in road traffic crashes every year
- As many as 50 million people are injured or disabled by road traffic crashes every year
- Road traffic crashes cost countries up to 4% of their Gross National Product
- Correctly used seat-belts reduce the risk of death in a crash by 61%
- Enforcing a drinking and driving law around the world could reduce alcohol-related crashes by 20%
- For every 1km/h reduction in average speed, there is a 2% reduction in the number of crashes
- Simple low-cost engineering measures are saving thousands of lives
Smart, sustained, and focused efforts need to be made to reduce these numbers. Implementing proper road safety practices, services, concepts and products on these roads needs to be taken to the next level of prioritization. However, accessing the best practices to effectively teach and implement these safety concepts is difficult to do on a system wide, comprehensive basis.
The International Road Federation (IRF) is the only global federation that solely represents the road industry. Members include both public sector institutions covering all levels of government from ministries to local and rural agencies, as well as private sector organizations such as consultants, contractors, colleges and universities, research institutions, equipment manufacturers, design professionals, planners, traffic safety experts, safety auditors, international financial institutions, and national road associations. IRF is truly an international federation with members in ninety countries on six continents. The IRF is uniquely positioned to be the leading advocate for global road safety.
The IRF has conducted workshops and seminars on road safety on a variety of topics around the world. The IRF has the unique advantage of the accessibility of the IRF Members who have a broad range of knowledge and expertise in all aspects of road safety. No other training organization has this capability. Utilizing its in-house staff talents and the outreach of its Members, the IRF has created a complete and comprehensive world class safety training program called Safer Roads by Design™ that is designed to leave a lasting impression on attendees. Its intent is to introduce concepts that can be used to prevent accidents, as well as concepts that will help to reduce the severity of accidents.
Safer Roads by Design™ is an all-inclusive approach to road safety that will include seminars on the Fundamentals of Road Safety, Roadside Safety, Work Zone Safety, Intersection/Roundabout Safety and Vulnerable User Safer. Thirty-five road safety experts from five continents will be used to make these Safer Road by Design™ presentations.
The IRF welcomes the opportunity to present this program through road authorities around the world with tentative seminars scheduled to be held in the Middle East, Asia-Australasia and Latin America starting in 2008.