The World Day of Remembrance (WDoR) for Road Traffic Victims is commemorated on the third Sunday of November each year. The purpose of this day is to acknowledge the victims of road crashes and their families, promoting road safety and paying tribute to the dedicated emergency crews, rescuers, police and medical professionals, who deal with the traumatic aftermath of road crashes.
The objectives of WDoR 2021 are also the same, with emphasize on the reduction of road traffic speeds as this action can prevent many deaths and serious injuries. The 26th anniversary of WDoR is also the start of the new Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030, with the ambitious target of preventing 50 percent of road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030. The cumulative toll of road traffic injuries and causalities is truly horrific. Each year, approximately 1.3 million people die world over and over 54 percent of deaths are associated with motorcyclists, cyclists, and pedestrians. It is also an interesting fact that low income countries have one percent of the world’s vehicles but 13 percent of all deaths. On the contrary, high income countries have 40 percent of the world’s vehicles but 7 percent of all deaths. Globally, every 24 seconds someone dies on the road as per World Health Organization (WHO).
In Pakistan, WHO in collaboration with concerned organizations, organized road safety workshops and highlighted the contributing factors of accidents, which include road safety management, safer roads and mobility, safer vehicles, safer road users and post-crash response, to reduce the increasing burden of disease due to road traffic crashes in the country. An accident occurs every 1.6 minutes and the leading emergency service, commonly known as Rescue 1122, alone is managing an average of 1000 road traffic crashes daily in Punjab. The evidence based, priority steps recommended to improve road safety in Punjab include reducing the maximum speed limit of motorcycles to 50km/hr, having dedicated motorcycle lanes, standardizing user friendly helmets, in addition to ensuring enforcement and provision of safe economical, dignified, light public transport. The implementation of a standardized driver licensing program is also a recommendation.
According to statistics, Punjab’s Rescue 1122 responded to over 3 million road traffic crashes in Punjab since its inception in 2004 and emergency data revealed that 83 percent of crash victims were associated with motorbikes. An average of 1000 families are traumatized daily when the breadwinners of their houses get injured or die in road crashes. If we would take preventive measures related to motorbike accidents, it would mean that 83 percent of victims will be saved from such accidents and injuries.
Despite having an excellent post-crash response to road traffic crashes due to Rescue 1122 and Motorbike Rescue Service, there is a serious need to work on the theme of WDoR 2021 and reduce the speed of motorbikes to reduce the number of injuries and deaths. The management of emergency services, under the leadership of Director General Dr Rizwan Naseer, is highly committed to take tangible steps to promote road safety. Post-crash response has been provided with an emergency ambulance but now a motorbike rescue service with trained paramedic healthcare staff reaches the incident site within four minutes. Besides that, the community is being trained under the Pakistan Lifesavers Programme on essential lifesaving skills of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and bleeding control. These two skills help to save lives in emergencies, especially road traffic crashes, in which victims are at a high risk due to excessive blood loss and possible cardiac arrest.
Reducing speed is a major responsibility of all citizens and it must be practiced in true letter and spirit to reduce 50 percent injuries by 2030. The road user’s demeanour is one of the key factors as many road crashes are occurring due to irresponsible behavior. The violation of traffic rules, over speeding, impaired driving, no use of helmet, seat belt and side mirrors, and the use of cell phones while driving, are actually our irresponsible behaviors. Its time to realize that we all need to be road wise, abide by traffic rules, discourage underage driving and maintain our vehicles and keep a safe distance from the next one because it’s better to be late than never. Do not forget that the civilized nations are recognized by their organized traffic. We, as responsible citizens, must commit to play our positive role and act responsibly to contribute to road safety.
