27.04.2007 · 02:00 Uhr

The Red Cross launches its European Road Safety Campaign 2007-2008

Brussels, 27 April 2007. Today the Red Cross will give first aid training to more than 80 participants in the European Road Safety Day event organised by the European Commission in the Charlemagne building between 11h00 and 16h00.
By doing so, the Red Cross officially launches its new road safety campaign aiming at contributing to the European Commission’s target of halving the number of road victims by 2010.

Jacques Barrot, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of transport matters, said: "I very much welcome the launch of this campaign on the First European Road Safety Day, and the European Commission is proud of being one of the campaign's sponsors. The objective of making our roads safer is one that we all share – and one where we can all make a contribution."

This campaign will focus specifically on:

increasing European visibility for road safety issues

collecting best practice tools for road safety and first aid and proactively sharing this throughout Europe

encouraging individuals, communities, organisations and governments to improve road safety.

Between April 2007 and June 2008, National Red Cross Societies will deliver programmes to increase awareness, knowledge and respect of road safety rules and behaviours as well as to promote first aid amongst the general public.

The main outcome of the campaign will be the production of a road safety and first aid resource pack which will focus on 3 key themes:

raising awareness (by involving the public, communication, media and PR)

influencing behaviour (through formal/non-formal education for children aged 7-11)

building community capacity - how to mobilise communities to take action to reduce road traffic accidents in their neighbourhoods.

The resource pack will provide the Red Cross, other road safety agencies and multipliers throughout Europe with tested materials in order to operate programmes that best tackle the issues in their country. The pack will be easily accessible and available for free on the campaign website www.1-life.info.

Over 57% of all road victims die in the first minutes after the crash, before the arrival of the emergency services. First aid is a cost-effective, safe and simple way to save lives in an emergency. In Europe the Red Cross, as a leading provider of first aid, endeavours to make first aid education compulsory at different stages of life and promote the road safety culture.

Toyota Motor Europe has been a partner of the European Red Cross Road Safety Campaign since 2003. The financial and in kind support of the new campaign (lending of vehicles, joint hosting of events), is aligned with new initiatives that illustrate Toyota's commitment towards road safety. These include: making Vehicle Stability Control available on most Toyota models by May 2007; hosting a Stakeholder Dialogue on Road Safety in Brussels on 26 April 2007 during the UN Global Road Safety Week; and joining the eSafetyAware! platform, a pan-European initiative promoting market introduction of intelligent vehicle safety systems.

TomTom, the world’s largest portable navigation solutions provider, has also pledged its support by sponsoring this year's campaign. "TomTom takes road safety very seriously and we are therefore very proud to be a partner of the Red Cross in promoting road safety throughout Europe", said Alexander Ribbink, COO TomTom. "Recent independent research states that satellite navigation devices contribute to road safety, making the decision to support the European Red Cross Road Safety Campaign a natural one."

Contacts:
RC/EU Office: Dr. Veneta Vassileva, Project Manager, Tel: +32 2 235 06 99, e-mail: veneta.vassileva@redcross-eu.net:
Toyota Motor Europe: Etienne Plas, Tel : +32 2 745 20 22, e-mail: etienne.plas@toyota-europe.com
TomTom: Scott Johnston, +31 6 52392309, e-mail: scott.johnston@tomtom.com

Notes to Editors

Supported by the European Commission, Toyota Motor Europe and TomTom, the campaign involves the active participation of 19 Red Cross National Societies: Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Since 2001 the European Union National Red Cross Societies have delivered three pan European road safety campaigns. Through these campaigns Red Cross reached millions of people, informing them on preventive road safety measures and learning simple first aid techniques in case of accidents.

Toyota Motor Europe (TME) NV/SA oversees the wholesale sales and marketing of Toyota and Lexus vehicles, parts and accessories, and Toyota’s European manufacturing and engineering operations. Toyota directly and indirectly employs approximately 55,000 people in Europe and has invested over €6 billion since 1990. In 2006, Toyota sold 1,124,119 Toyota and Lexus vehicles in Europe, enjoying its tenth consecutive record year of sales. The company aims to sell 1.22 million units in Europe in 2007, including 44,500 hybrid vehicles. For more information, go to http://www.toyota.eu

TomTom NV is the world’s largest navigation solution provider. TomTom's products are developed with an emphasis on innovation, quality, ease of use and value. TomTom's products include the award-winning TomTom GO family and the TomTom ONE range. TomTom was founded in 1991 in Amsterdam and has offices in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. TomTom is listed at Euronext, Amsterdam Stock Exchange in The Netherlands. For more information, go to http://www.tomtom.com.

First United Nations Global Road Safety Week activities – some Red Cross examples:

Austrian Red Cross - The programme "Austrian Road Safety Education Day" will take place in Vienna at places of public interest. Children, young people and adults can take part in different activities such as "Road Safety Knowledge Check", information-desks concerning road safety, practical trainings in road safety and first aid.

British Red Cross - First aid demonstrations at schools, road safety road show events at theme parks, partners of FIA "Make roads safe" campaign.

Bulgarian Red Cross - Information campaign, travelling photo exhibition, tender for children’s drawings, National Road Safety Conference involving government, NGOs, international agencies, partners and sponsors, media.

Czech Red Cross - Questionnaire competition "What do you know about Road Safety?" will take place in all 14 Regional cities in Czech Republic.

Finnish Red Cross - First aid classes for young people in driving schools delivered by volunteers.

Hellenic Red Cross - 15,000 students will be trained in Road safety and First Aid in Athens.

Lithuanian Red Cross - National drawing competition "Road Safety is no Accident" followed by an exhibition where the representatives from the Ministry of Transport, Education, and media will be invited at the European Road Safety Day to discuss road safety issues.

Polish Red Cross - public awareness raising events at cities and villages, creating a "memory place" for road victims on Polish roads in Warsaw.

Portuguese Red Cross - Easter Event: distribution of promotional materials at major traffic areas. European Road Safety Day in five Portuguese cities (Lisbon, Porto, Évora, Braga, Funchal). The road safety campaign will be integrated into the ongoing national campaign (Copos quem decide és tu). Portuguese RC National Youth Assembly for Road Safety will be organised.

Romanian Red Cross - Informal video-interviews with young road users made by volunteers on the streets of Bucharest; 5 short films will be posted on the Romanian RC road safety blog and discussions between internet users will be moderated by the volunteers.

Slovak Red Cross - Regional branches in cooperation with Police, Emergency Service and other partners will perform a variety of initiatives, such as informational campaigns, first aid courses for youngsters, street demonstrations, sports events, painting and essay competitions in schools, communities and public places. The common event will be held on European Road Safety Day.

Slovenian Red Cross - National First Aid school competition (encompassing road safety component).

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) - Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung
Mobilität für alle: Die Toyota Motor Corporation entwickelt und produziert innovative, sichere und hochwertige Produkte und Services, um allen Menschen die Freude einer uneingeschränkten Mobilität zu bieten. Wir erreichen unsere Ziele nur dann, wenn wir unsere Kunden, Partner, Mitarbeiter und die Gesellschaften unterstützen, in denen wir tätig sind. Seit unserer Gründung im Jahr 1937 arbeiten wir an einer sichereren, nachhaltigeren und inklusiveren Gesellschaft. Auch heute – während wir uns zu einem Mobilitätsunternehmen wandeln, das Technologien für Vernetzung, Automatisierung, Sharing und Elektrifizierung entwickelt – bleiben wir unseren Leitprinzipien und den Zielen für nachhaltige Entwicklung der Vereinten Nationen verpflichtet. Damit wollen wir zu einer besseren Welt beitragen, in der sich jeder frei bewegen kann.

SDG-Initiativen: https://global.toyota/en/sustainability/sdgs