Road Safety Week 2019 |19 November 2019
‘Step up for safe streets’
‘Step up for safe streets’ is the theme for this year’s Road Safety Awareness Campaign which was officially launched yesterday.
The campaign is being organised by the Road Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) in collaboration with the department of land transport and the Road Transport Commissioner’s office.
The launch ceremony took place at the University of Seychelles, Anse Royale.
In his opening address Patrick Andre, the principal secretary for land transport and the chairperson of the RSAC, said that there are millions of lives being lost annually through road crashes.
“Transportation has provided new opportunities. With the positive effects come the more negative side effects and among them are road fatalities and serious injuries incurred by not using your vehicle properly and even so by not respecting the traffic rules and regulations,” said the principal secretary.
Mr Andre noted that 3% of the Seychellois nation have been involved in 2674 accidents recorded last year, noting that there have been 7 fatal accidents so far this year.
“The work of the RSAC is not easy, given that different financial, human resource and infrastructural constraints but the ultimate passion that the different members coming from different backgrounds have, keeps us day and night to continuously find ways to improve road safety among members of the public,” said Mr Andre.
He also noted that to continuously succeed in road safety efforts a strong “one team” spirit between government, regular and private enterprise has to be forged.
The principal secretary also took this time to promote the “do not drink and drive” pledge which is being pushed forward through the engagement of Seychelles Breweries.
Before ending the PS remarked that we can all step up and play a part in the celebration of safe system solutions and the creation of a safe and healthy future: Individuals can step up by pledging to use roads safely, pledging not to drink and drive on the roads, minimise vehicle use and shout out for safe system solutions. Schools can help young people step up and learn how to create a safe and healthy future and shout out for change. Organisations can step up their policies and procedures to ensure they choose safe systems solutions. Emergency service professionals can step up to highlight their vital role in helping to keep us safe. Policy-makers can step up by developing and mandating safe systems solutions.
After the opening ceremony the attendees were able to pledge not to drink and drive, outside of the theatre. This falls part of a global pledge that has over 21 million signatures to date worldwide.
“We want to bring this campaign to Seychelles for us to be part of this global phenomenon,” said Marie-Anne Ernesta, corporate relations manager at Seychelles Breweries.
For those interested the pledge can also be signed on the FACEBOOK page of Seybrew and K-RADIO who is also a partner in the Safety Week.
To mark the Road Safety Week different stalls were also present to bring awareness on road safety in an educational and easy way so that everyone from children to adults can understand.
The activities for the week will officially conclude on November 24, 2019.
The accompanying photographs taken by our photographer Jude Morel show some highlights of the launch ceremony yesterday.
Christophe Zialor
