The Good Humanitarian
15 July 2004
Turning Drivers into Responsible Individuals With a Humanitarian Outlook Will Take More Than Just the Fear of a Fine
Roads and vehicles perform the same vital function all over the world – that of giving unrivalled freedom of movement for people and goods. Human behaviour still seems to be the deciding factor concerning the dangers of all this mobility. With nearly 1.2m fatalities and more than 35m injured in road accidents every year worldwide, road safety is an issue of immense proportions.
According to the World Bank and the World Health Organisation, the result of unsafe behaviour on the roads can be expected to be the third largest killer worldwide. Although it is becoming more accepted that speeding is intimately related to road safety, many people refuse to understand the danger of irresponsible behaviour.
In the last three decades in many countries and particularly in the western industrialised world, much progress with improving road safety has been made and enforcement is here the key-element. Figures from The Dutch Research Centre show that those countries that are utilising innovative traffic control measures show a marked reduction in risk per capita.
The World Health Organisation recently published the Global Road Safety Crisis Report, in which important issues are raised. Introducing minimum standards for road safety, such as speed limits, rules against drunk driving, etc.
Experience in industrialised countries shows that measures to promote behavioural change by road users are decisively influenced by the level of enforcement by public authorities. Involving law enforcement agencies in the development of road safety policies is therefore extremely important. The use of enforcement technology will have an immediate, positive effect on reducing the number of road victims by more than 15%. So it is appropriate to state that enforcement of road safety rules is a critical factor in reducing road traffic injuries.
Gatsometer BV is the world leader in effective traffic enforcement for speeding and red light violations. Robert de Beukelaer is aware of the fact that effective measures to ensure conformance to legislation are necessary as part of an integrated traffic safety policy. Only innovative applications can meet the forthcoming and future policy measures worldwide. Berendsen notes: “Beyond the safety aspect, access control and our Point-to-Point® system also reduce congestion.”
Only if traffic enforcement is part of an integrated traffic safety strategy does it have a chance to succeed. In the Netherlands, this strategy resulted in a dramatic decrease of fatalities the early 1980s.
In other countries, people are becoming aware of the effectiveness of the integrated strategy. Benaceur Boulaajoul,ingénieur d’Etat from the Comité National de prévention des accidents de la circulation (CNPAC), is proud that, for the first time, the Kingdom of Morocco has a national integrated road safety strategy based on an overall vision specific to its own context, with realistic targets lasting for a period of ten years.
Peter Ter Meulen is founder of the World Road Safety Network. “One of the main objectives of the network is to certify minimum road safety and traffic enforcement standards. The WRSN has also taken the initiative to develop global standards for the collection of collision data and the establishment of a global functioning and accessible collision database.”
Peter Ter Meulen is also founder of the International Road Safety Academy: “The main objective is the dissemination of good practice in developing countries, in accordance with an efficient and effective structure.”
Gatsometer BV agrees with and supports both initiatives. “By the deployment of innovative solutions lives can be saved, and a more responsible and humanitarian driver can be encouraged.”
