News & Blog
Vision Zero for Youth: safer streets starting where youth walk and bike
Around the world, communities are committing to eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries, with an approach called Vision Zero. A growing group of these cities is focused on improving safety in school zones and other places where children and youth walk and bicycle. Vision Zero for Youth recognizes that starting with youth can be the catalyst to build community support for Vision Zero, and that Vision Zero should include a focus on youth.
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Jacob Smith joins us as a regional youth champion for North America
From participating in leadership opportunities in high school to establishing his own consulting firm where he works with national nonprofit organizations in advocacy, Jacob Smith remains passionate about promoting safety issues and youth leadership. “I am currently right now with various organizations. Most of them are youth participating organizations,” Smith stated. “Back in high school at Whitehouse High School, I was involved with FCCLA, which is Family, Career and Community Leaders of America. I went from serving as a national officer on the board of directors and now they are actually one of my clients. The organization is pretty strong in a lot of subjects, but ultimately it prepares students to make an impact in their families, careers and communities.”
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European students win the YEARS awards for upgrading dangerous roads
Four pairs of engineering students from Italy, Lithuania and Poland have been recognised for projects to redesign and upgrade high-risk road infrastructure in the cities of Milan, Naples, Vilnius and Kraków. The students’ projects were delivered as part of YEARS (Young Europeans Acting for Road Safety), a Europe-wide project on the road safety of young people managed by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) and the UK’s Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) with the support of the European Commission, the German Road Safety Council (DVR) and VIAS Institute in Belgium. The awards ceremony is took place in Brussels on 12th September 18.
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The case of the Bangladesh youth movement for road safety - by Riyadh Kaiser
Recently, a national youth movement for road safety took place in Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka. It was one of the first times youths, through the collective anger for losing peers on the road, took to the streets to call for action and change. We are privileged to have a youth leader give his perspective on what happened in Bangladesh.
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Support Project #EDWARD - European Day Without a Road Death by TISPOL
A DAY WITHOUT FATALITIES ON EUROPE’S ROADS? That’s the aim of Project EDWARD each year. Launched in 2016, the project is supported by drivers across the continent, plus very generous public and private sector partners. 2018’s day of action is Wednesday 19 September. The long-term aim is to spearhead significant and sustained reduction in death and serious injury on roads across the world.
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Brian's Column: Can’t we have roads constructed for humans first?
Our regular columnist Mr Brian Bilal Mwebaze from Uganda is back with his take on all things youth and road safety in Africa. Brian gives a unique perspective on the things he sees around him. As a self confessed "public health freak", Brian's unique viewpoint as a youth champion for road safety, a social entrepreneur and a public health expert offers candid expression of the state-of-play in the African region. This month he asks the question, " Why can't we create roads for humans and not just for cars?" .
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Vote for the Child Health Initiative to be featured at South x South West
South by Southwest is a conference and music festival that brings together experts from diverse backgrounds to foster innovation. Our friends at the FIA Foundation have applied to speak at the event. The proposed presentation is about the importance of safe, sustainable, child-friendly cities, reflecting the global work of our Child Health Initiative. We call on our youth network to log in and vote for the initiative.
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"Keke do you love me?" - not if you do that stupid dance out the car!
There’s no denying that Drake is a music sensation. Over the past years he has broken through as a serious contender for most streamed, watched and influential rapper of the 21st century. Alongside some of the big hits coming out of Drake’s camp are some subtle and overt trends attached to his beats. Drake is perhaps the most ‘memeable’ musician out there, his ‘Hotline Bling’ dancing took the internet into meltdown with countless remakes made of his tongue-in-cheek moves. In the latest viral trend, Drake’s new song ‘In My Feelings’ has encouraged youth across the world to emulate Drake dancing. Part of this viral challenge sees (mainly) young people stepping out of a moving car to dance to the song…we don’t think that’s cool!
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Lead an exciting Star Rating for Schools initiative globally and help save kids lives
iRAP is a charity dedicated to tackling the largest cause of death for young people worldwide: road crashes. Our vision is a world free of high risk roads. As Programme Coordinator, Star Rating for Schools you have the chance to work with a small, dynamic team that has global reach and impact. The Star Rating for Schools programme will be implemented globally by a range of well-experienced and successful Lead Partner road safety NGOs with a shared passion for road safety.
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We're back from facilitating a strategic advocacy workshop for Amend - Ghana
Akwaaba to Accra, Ghana! On 3-4 July, Amend organized a strategy workshop for their safe school area work in 10 African countries. NGO leaders from Benin, Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mozambique, Namibia, Senegal, Tanzania, and Zambia attended the workshop. YOURS was asked to lead the development and structure of the program, as well to facilitate the workshop.
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Reporting back from a successful South African follow up training - Polokwane
In July 2017, we trained 20 young leaders from across the Limpopo Province in South Africa. These leaders were selected for their influence and leadership in their communities; their linkages and access to hard-to-reach communities such as those in townships and their passion for social justice and change. In partnership with the Global Road Safety Partnership in South Africa (GRSP ZA) and generously funded by the socially responsible company Michelin, the programme took place over 5 days in Bela-Bela, South Africa. After being rigorously trained through an intensive information packed workshop, these leaders became the first cohort of South African Youth Ambassadors for Road Safety. They were trained in a range of topics including road safety in South Africa, why crashes happen, why young people are at risk, factors surround gender, risk factors including speed, distracted driving, drink and drug driving and seatbelts as well as lifelong skills such as presentations skills, facilitation skills and road safety messaging.
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Youth Road Safety Ambassadors in South Africa to brush up new skills with YOURS
South Africans pay a high toll for road traffic crashes, especially amongst young males aged 14-35. In July 2017, we partnered with the Global Road Safety Partnership South Africa (GRSP ZA), the Government of South Africa (Ministry of Health and Transport) and the Michelin Corporate Foundation to deliver the first Youth Ambassadors for Road Safety Training in the country. 20 young leaders, selected for their activism and standing in their communities joined YOURS in Limpopo Province to be trained on road safety knowledge and peer education methods. Michelin, in their ground breaking approach to global road safety, and whom are long standing founding member of YOURS funded the programme (through the Michelin Corporate Foundation) to equip these young people with the skills they needed to reach out to their communities and raise road safety consciousness across society. The project was organized by GRSP ZA in collaboration with the Provincial Government of Limpopo and the Department for Transport.
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Avoid a World Cup penalty by having none for the road!
We are well into the magical championship that is the FIFA World Cup. The football tournament is the most watched sporting event in modern history and continues to bedazzle and amaze with some of the world's best players. Whether your country is in the world cup or not, there's no escaping world cup fever. There's another phenomena that often accompanies sporting events like the world cup; excessive drinking. You may find yourself having a beer at odd times in the day, during the day-time matches or drinking more than you usually do midweek for the evening matches. That's why we are endorsing the message of Somerset Road Safety's World Cup Campaign: " Avoid a World Cup Penalty by having none for the road" .
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The theme for International Youth Day 2018 is Safe Spaces for Youth
Youth need safe spaces where they can come together, engage in activities related to their diverse needs and interests, participate in decision making processes and freely express themselves. While there are many types of spaces, safe spaces ensure the dignity and safety of youth. Safe spaces such as civic spaces enable youth to engage in governance issues; public spaces afford youth the opportunity to participate in sports and other leisure activities in the community; digital spaces help youth interact virtually across borders with everyone; and well planned physical spaces can help accommodate the needs of diverse youth especially those vulnerable to marginalization or violence. In addition, we at YOURS believe that safe spaces should include a safe journey to those safe places.
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Distracted driving, everyone hates it but many people do it - new study
Insurance company Esurance has a new study out on distracted driving in the USA, and it makes for interesting reading. Almost everyone agrees distracted driving is bad, yet it's still remarkably prevalent. Even drivers who report rarely driving distracted also report that they engage in distracting behaviors. The study also raises some questions about the growing complexity of modern vehicles, particularly the user interfaces they confront us with.
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The safe system approach: an example in action in São Paulo Brazil
Each year, around 38,000 people die from traffic-related crashes in Brazil. Most of the victims are pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. The staggering number is a direct result of the lack of road safety precautions in Brazilian cities, which are growing quickly both in size and population but also the number of vehicles on the road. Recognizing this as a serious problem, two of Brazil’s largest cities, São Paulo and Fortaleza – home to 12.1 and 2.6 million people, respectively – have become the first to adopt new road safety policies and protocols. To save lives, these cities are turning to what’s called a “ Safe System ” approach.
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Reporting from Leipzig - International Transport Forum session summary
The 2018 Summit on “Transport Safety and Security” is addressing issues ranging from terrorism and cyber-security to road safety and extreme weather disruption, including the risks and benefits of automated driving. Safety and security are core concerns for transport. A transport system that is safe and secure enables passengers to travel without fear and allows businesses to ship goods reliably and efficiently. Enhancing transport safety and security is also an essential element in the implementation of two major international agreements, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement.
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Brian's Column: Traffic cops being killed on the road should be a concern
Our regular columnist and Anglophone Africa CORE Group Representative Brian Bilal Mwebaze is back with another feature on road safety happenings in Africa. This time he focuses on crashes in Africa with traffic cops and the wider need for road safety to be translated to the local level.
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We will be live from Leipzig, Germany for the International Transport Summit
The 2018 Summit on “Transport Safety and Security” will address issues ranging from terrorism and cyber-security to road safety and extreme weather disruption, including the risks and benefits of automated driving. Safety and security are core concerns for transport. A transport system that is safe and secure enables passengers to travel without fear and allows businesses to ship goods reliably and efficiently. Enhancing transport safety and security is also an essential element in the implementation of two major international agreements, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement.
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Read about our ground breaking multi-award winning workshops!
We use our years of expertise in workshop delivery to develop the capacities of young people in the field of road safety. With global experiences from Belize, Cambodia, Kenya, Niger, Oman, Saint Lucia, South Africa and the USA, YOURS is able to provide youth-friendly, highly interactive and dynamic workshops for young people. These workshops have big impact on the lives of young people are create robust youth action to reduce road traffic crashes amongst 15-29 year olds.
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