Clarity and purpose

THE fact that there have been 29 road deaths as of July 11 this year compared with 51 for the same period last year, will attract some attention. Hopefully it will inch out some sense of appreciation of road safety campaigns.

There will be some thought hanging over the reduced Ɲgures.

The fact is people still died on our roads!

The Global status report on road safety 2023 by the World Health Organization, shows that the number of annual road traffic deaths fell slightly to 1.19 million.

The report shows that efforts to improve road safety are having an impact, and that signiƝcant reductions in road traffic deaths can be made if proven measures are applied.

Despite this, it says the price paid for mobility remains too high.

Road traffic injuries, it notes, remain the leading killer of children and young people aged 5-29 years.

In saying that, more than half of fatalities occur among pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, particularly those living in low and middle-income countries. Urgent action is needed if the global goal of at least halving road traffic deaths and injuries by the year 2030 is to be achieved.

The WHO says 328,000 people are killed each year in the Western PaciƝc region as a result of road traffic crash!

Millions more suffer non-fatal injuries including lifelong disability.

The region is one of six regions of the WHO, and Fiji is listed here.

On the homefront, LTA acting CEO Irimaia Rokosawa has highlighted speeding as a leading cause of road accidents and fatalities, followed by drink-driving and driver fatigue.

As part of its campaign this month with the Fiji Police

Force, the authority has launched a special operation aimed at raising awareness about the dangers of jaywalking and encouraging responsible behaviour among pedestrians.

The LTA, Mr Rokosawa says, is committed to addressing these issues through stringent enforcement, comprehensive monitoring, and ongoing road safety awareness campaigns.

While we may be seeing the decline in road fatalities as a positive development, it is still important for us to be reminded that each death had consequences. Beyond the statistics, we reƞect on the human cost, and the impact on families, communities and the economy!

We may also reƞect on the impact of road safety campaigns and initiatives and how they are connected to the reality on our roads!

So, there will have to be a lot of thought now placed on momentum, and how we maintain that in terms of our road safety awareness campaigns.

Lives are important, and road accidents can be prevented. They happen because we allow them!