‘We got together so that no road separates you’
GRSP MENA office, as part of the EuroMed Road Safety Prorgamme, proudly announces the launch of the first distinctive, multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary road safety pilot project in Lebanon.
In an effort to promote road safety, a campaign under the title of ‘We got together so that no road can separate you’ was launched at the headquarters of the Internal Security Forces in Achrafieh. The project is the first of its kind in Lebanon that unites stakeholders from all fields of Lebanese society – public sector, private sector and civil society – and which addresses the many aspects involved in road safety – law enforcement, engineering, health and public awareness.
At the launch, which was scheduled to coincide with the annual commemoration of the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011 – 2020), Mrs. Samar Abouraad, Regional Director of Global Road Safety Partnership, praised the efforts of all the partners and stressed the importance of tangible actions leading to satisfying and sustainable results.
General Mohammad Al Ayoubi, Chief of Traffic Section in Beirut Area, spoke on the importance of training and developing the capacities of Internal Security Forces to deal effectively with the specific road safety issues facing the pilot area – the highway located between Antelias and Jbeil – those being the number of fatalities and injuries caused by speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol.
Recent studies around road safety in Lebanon have also shown that the data collection process needs improvement in terms of accuracy and reliability and this has been worked into the project action plan, which has six key focus areas:
- Improving data collection and analysis
- Enforcing the traffic law related to speeding and drinking and driving
- Preparing a road safety curriculum
- Raising awareness on the dangers of speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol
- Improving the delivery of first aid to road accident victims
- Improving road safety infrastructure
We will keep you updated with the progress of the project through our website and social media as implementation proceeds.
