IV European Red Cross Road Safety Campaign

43,000 people die every year on the roads of the European Union and by 2010, the European Commission aims to cut this figure by half. To support this target, EU Red Cross National Societies have joined forces to organise a campaign which focuses on the application of road safety rules and correct behaviour. Besides this, first aid training sessions are proposed to the general public in the hope that people will acquire basic skills to help road victims within the very important first few minutes after an accident.

This year’s campaign has been concentrating on:

• Increasing the awareness of road safety issues in Europe;
• Collecting best practice tools for road safety and first aid with the aim to proactively share this throughout Europe.

The principle outcome of this campaign was the production of a “Red Cross Road Safety and First Aid Resource Pack” which will provide the Red Cross, road safety agencies, teachers and other road safety stakeholders with tested materials so that they can operate programmes that tackle these issues in their respective countries.

This is the third time since 2003 that Toyota has participated in the programme, and this year, seven of Toyota’s subsidiaries cooperated with local Red Cross societies to organise various activities and events in the local communities. They are supporting first aid training , on-line training for driving schools and first aid or road safety education sessions at schools.

“As a major vehicle manufacturer, Toyota bears a particular responsibility for reducing the frequency of road accidents. Toyota’s ultimate goal is to reduce traffic fatalities and injuries to zero,” said Mr. Graham Smith, Chairman of the Toyota Fund for Europe. “We hope that the Road Safety and First Aid Resource Pack, which was launched in the final event in June, will be widely used by practitioners across Europe”.