Michael Schumacher and Michelle Yeoh prepare to lead a rally for the Decade of Action
Costa Rica’s transport minister, Karla Gonzalez, speaks at the Make Roads Safe press conference
Michael Schumacher calls for a Decade of Action for Road Safety
Costa Rica’s Nobel Peace Prize winning President, Óscar Arias Sánchez, has called for a Decade of Action for road safety.
President Arias Sánchez becomes the first Head of State to endorse the Make Roads Safe campaign’s call for a Decade of Action to be agreed when governments meet at the first Global Ministerial Meeting on road safety in Moscow later this year.
President Arias Sánchez said: “We need a global programme to combat this epidemic of road traffic injuries which kill on the same scale as Tuberculosis or Malaria. I am supporting the Make Roads Safe campaign and I call for a ‘Decade of Action’ which is essential if we are to save lives both in Costa Rica and around the world.”
The President’s call came as the campaign’s Global Ambassador Michelle Yeoh joined Michael Schumacher, who serves as a member of the Commission for Global Road Safety, in leading hundreds of school children in a bicycle rally for the Decade of Action on the streets of the country’s capital, San Jose.
The rally took place on a new cycle path, part of a new government project to improve safety for vulnerable road users. The path, which has received funding from the FIA Foundation, will aim to protect cyclists by keeping them separate from busy traffic.
Michael Schumacher and Michelle Yeoh led school children along the path and were joined by Costa Rica’s Transport Minister Karla Gonzalez at the inauguration.
At a press conference following the launch event, Karla Gonzalez said that one key aim of the cycle path is to protect school children, cyclists and other vulnerable road users. “There are thousands of Costa Rican children going to school every day but in the past we have not protected them through our road infrastructure. We want to give the opportunity for children to get to school by bicycle, but in order to do this we have to keep them safe.”
Michael Schumacher said he was impressed by the road safety achievements in Costa Rica and hoped the rest of the world could follow its example. He also said he hopes progress can be made at the first ever UN Ministerial on road safety.
“We have a chance this year to make a real difference in road safety,” he said. “The Make Roads Safe campaign is about reducing the number of deaths particularly in developing countries where there is a huge increase in road accidents. Later this year, in November in Moscow the United Nations will have a chance to make progress on road safety. I hope the politicians will take action to save lives.”
Make Roads Safe campaign Ambassador Michelle Yeoh agreed that sustained action is needed. “We need to think about the future. Over the next ten years, if we don’t act many people will die on the roads. We have had major programmes which have reduced the death toll for malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. We should try to have a similar impact with road safety. Lives will be saved if we had a Decade of Action for road safety – this is the message we want the United Nations to hear.”
Costa Rica has been facing a serious road safety challenge, which it is addressing with a range of policies. Death rates on the roads in Costa Rica are more than double those in Western Europe. Costa Rica has 14 fatalities per 100,000 population, while Sweden and the Netherlands have 6 per 100,000. Costa Rica forecasts over 100,000 deaths during the next two decades if no action is taken. However, in both its domestic and international work Costa Rica has played a leading role in road safety. President Óscar Arias Sánchez has given his support to the Make Roads Safe campaign and his Government helped secure agreement within the United Nations for the November 2009 Ministerial conference.
Alongside the Make Roads Safe campaign launch in Costa Rica the International Road Assessment Programme iRAP) also released a key report covering the country. It found that by introducing low cost safety measures 15,000 lives could be saved in Costa Rica in two decades.
iRAP Chairman John Dawson said: “Costa Rica gives us a model for what can be achieved. Through the pioneering Transport Minister Karla Gonzalez, the country has made great progress. Now, we have to take this further and we have to seize the opportunity to save lives over the next 20 years.”
In 2003-4 Costa Rica introduced new seat belt legislation and launched a major public awareness campaign called ‘Por Amor’ (For Love) led by Transport Minister Karla Gonzalez. With media coverage and TV adverts, the new seat belt law and strong police enforcement increased seat belt usage for drivers from 24 percent to 82 percent.