London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Press launch: World report on road traffic injury prevention launched today at a press event in the Goldsmith's Theatre, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1, on Wednesday 7 April, between 10.30 am and 12.00 pm.

Road traffic injuries (RTIs) which kill 1.2 million people a year and injure or disable between 20 and 50 million more, are not 'accidents' - they are as preventable a public health problem as heart disease, strokes or cancer, experts in London will reveal today.

Today is World Health Day, which this year focuses on road injuries, and the UK launch of the World report on road traffic injury prevention, the first-ever joint report into the issue by the World Bank and the World Health Organisation is taking place today at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). It is being organised jointly with RoadPeace, the UK's only specialist charity for road traffic victims and will be attended by London's Deputy Mayor, Jenny Jones, who is a Green Party GLA Member and the Mayor's Road Safety Ambassador.

Also attending and speaking will be Mr Stephane Gompertz, Minister Consular who is representing the French Embassy, since the event is also one of the Entente Cordiale's 100th anniversary events. Five people who have been bereaved or injured through a road crash will speak about the impact this has had on them and recount their experiences in the aftermath of the crash. Margherita Taylor, a DJ at Capital Radio and very concerned about road danger and lack of support for road victims, will be introducing the speakers.

Ninety per cent of the burden of RTIs is borne by low-income and middle-income countries, with pedestrians, users of non-motorized vehicles, elderly and disabled people and children all particularly affected. But despite this huge toll, which both the World Bank and WHO predict will increase without appropriate action, the issue has not received proper attention at either a national or an international level, which is now acknowledged by UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan.

The authors attribute this to a lack of political will to tackle the problem among the governments of the world. They are recommending a move towards a 'systems' approach rather than the 'blame' approach which places responsibility solely in the hands of road users, and are calling for urgent action by governments, public health and vehicle manufacturers as well as communities, civil society groups and individuals.

'We want governments across the globe to make road safety a political priority and, perhaps most importantly of all, to appoint a lead agency for road safety which is properly resourced and publicly accountable', explains Professor Ian Roberts of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, who is one of the report's authors. 'Each country should prepare a comprehensive road safety strategy which should involve groups from government, the private sector, NGOs, the mass media and the general public.

'We want public health agencies to start incorporating road safety into their health promotion and disease prevention activities, to set goals for reducing road traffic crashes, to improve care options for victims and to devise better ways of collecting health-related data on RTIs. We want to see effective, evidence-based policies and practices being developed that protect both vehicle occupants and vulnerable road users'.

Victims' organisations have responded to the report with a call for lower speed limits at the production stage and for improvements in the way road traffic injuries are dealt with by the legal system. RoadPeace, the UK's charity for road traffic victims and a member of the European Federation of Road Traffic Victims, wants to see an end to culpable road deaths being disposed of by lay magistrates as mere summary offences, saying: 'The death or injury must be the central issue of any charge brought against an offender if human rights are to be observed and respected. A fitting and duly serious treatment of road deaths and injuries, by governments and all agencies involved, would at the same time provide a powerful deterrent and thus contribute greatly to road injury prevention.

The report also calls for action on the part of vehicle manufacturers, who are urged to ensure all their motor vehicles meet safety standards set for high-income countries, regardless of where they are made, sold or used, to manufacture vehicles with safer fronts, so as to reduce injury to vulnerable road users, and to advertise and market vehicles responsibly by placing a greater emphasis on safety.

Communities, civil society groups and individuals are called on to lobby both local and central government for safer roads and to behave responsibly by observing speed and drink-driving limits, wearing crash helmets when riding two-wheel vehicles, and ensuring they and any passengers, especially children, are always properly strapped in.

'The greatest tragedy of all in this is that each and every road injury and death is completely avoidable. We already know what works in terms of reducing risk and cutting the number of road traffic crashes - we just need to harness political will and act on that knowledge', concludes Professor Roberts. 'Road traffic injuries need to be considered alongside heart disease, cancer and stroke as a preventable public health problem that responds well to targeted interventions'.

Andrew Miller, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Justice for Road Traffic Victims and a representative of the British Red Cross will also be attending the event.

An exhibition, featuring the pictures and testimonies of hundreds of victims of road traffic injuries, and illustrating the huge scale of the problem, will be on display in the Goldsmith's Theatre. There will also be a display of shoes in the shape of a grave, symbolising the lost lives of those killed on the world's roads.

To interview Professor Ian Roberts in advance, please contact him on 020 7958 8128. To contact RoadPeace or speak to road traffic victims, please call the RoadPeace office on 020 8838 5102 or Brigitte Chaudhry on 020 8964 1800.

Ends

Full programme for the morning:

10.40 Welcome Prof Ian Roberts, LSHTM
10.45 Introduction Margherita Taylor, Capital Radio
10.50 Victims' accounts Five victims of road traffic injuries tell their stories:
Caroline Williams, Cynthia Barlow, Andrew Porter, Rita Taylor Karen Morrow
11.05 The World Report Professor Ian Roberts
11.20 Comment London's Deputy Mayor Jenny Jones, GLA Member
11.25 Comment Mr Stephane Gompertz, Minister Consular, French
Embassy, London
11.30 Open discussion All