Global Road Safety Event Stresses Reducing Motorbikes Speed To 30km/hour

The Global Road Safety Week closing ceremony was organised at the Governor's House here by the Punjab Emergency Service, in collaboration with the World Health Organisation, to highlight the importance of road safety by reducing the speed of motorbike to 30km per hour for saving lives and reducing serious injuries on roads

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd May, 2021 ) :The Global Road Safety Week closing ceremony was organised at the Governor's House here by the Punjab Emergency Service, in collaboration with the World Health Organisation, to highlight the importance of road safety by reducing the speed of motorbike to 30km per hour for saving lives and reducing serious injuries on roads.

The joint effort was in line with the WHO Strategic Pillars of Road Safety to meet the UN Global Road Safety Targets 2030.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan, Special Assistant to Chief Minister Punjab on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, Country Head WHO Pakistan Dr Palitha Gunaranthna, rescue officers from Rescue Headquarters, academy, regional emergency officers, and the WHO officers participated in the event.

In his video message, Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar appreciated the efforts of the Punjab Emergency Service to provide timely response to road traffic victims and rescuing 2.8 million victims of road traffic crashes and providing a sense of safety to the citizen of Punjab. He also emphasised reducing the speed of motorbikes and ensure the wearing of a helmet to make travel safe and reduce the number of road accidents.

Dr Rizwan Naseer, Director General Emergency Services Punjab, briefed the participants about the burden on hospitals due to road traffic crashes in Punjab. He said that Rescue-1122 alone is managing around 900 road traffic crashes daily in Punjab, thus resulting in an accident every 1.

6 minute. Unfortunately, around 83 per cent of these road traffic crash victims are associated with motorcycle accidents, resulting in a huge socioeconomic impact on society. He also emphasised collective efforts by the organisations concerned to reduce the number of deaths due to road traffic crashes.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister Dr Faisal Sultan said that the government was committed to reducing the road traffic crashes and the Rescue Service was doing a commendable job in providing a post-crash response in line with the UN WHO Strategic Pillars of Road Safety. After establishing the post-crash Response system, there is a dire need to work on other road safety pillars as well to reduce are increasing burden of disease. He said reducing the speed of motorbike can save more lives and reduce serious injuries.

WHO Country Representative Dr Palitha Gunarathna Mahipala highlighted the importance of UN Road safety week and the importance of UN WHO 5 strategic pillar of road safety to half the burden by 50 per cent of deaths and serious injuries on roads.

Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan shared her personal experience of road crash before the establishment of Rescue Service. She said now people are lucky as they have an integrated emergency care system of Rescue 1122 for pre-hospital care, but citizen should also take care of their lives especially motorbike riders must reduce speed to save themselves from death and disability for the rest of their lives.