SENATE BACKS UN DECADE ACTION FOR ROAD SAFETY

The Upper House recently expressed support on the United Nations (UN) Decade Action for Road Safety, the worldwide and decade-long campaign to curb the 1.3 million deaths from road accidents every year.

The Senate affirmed its support to the UN drive through Senate Resolution 415 which was filed by Senator Bong Revilla Jr. and approved before the six-week adjournment of the session.

According to the lawmaker, the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety, which starts from this year up to 2021, is an opportunity for countries to work together in addressing road traffic deaths and injuries around the world.

He cited the UN report that bared that 1.3 million people die on the world's roads every year with around 50 million injured or disabled by accidents. This costs countries up to 4 per cent of their gross national product (GNP) yearly.

"The over-all objective of this global campaign is to halt the alarming rise of road accidents. As member state of the United Nations and a country with huge record of road accidents, it is only proper that the Philippines be actively involved in this undertaking," said Bong Revilla, staunch advocate of travel safety and main author of the Helmet Law, the legislative measure that obliged all motorcycle users, including the backriders, to wear standard quality helmets.

The senator also noted that ninety percent of road traffic deaths occur in low- and middle- income countries, and it is the primary cause of death of young people worldwide. "This epidemic is a killer of the poor. The poor are the most vulnerable victims because they are the ones who live alongside the national roads and highways. It is the children of the poor who walk to school that's why they are at risk of road accidents. We are a country with high poverty rate and we must exert all efforts to address this dilemma," he explained.

Proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in March 2010, the next ten years will be observed as the Decade of Action for Road Safety. It is aimed to provide a framework to countries and communities to increase action to safe lives on the world's roads. The official launch for the Decade is on 11 May 2011.

"Road accidents are preventable and all roads must lead to safety. We must act now to save lives," Bong Revilla added.