How can we live with the fact that every 24 seconds somebody in the world is killed on a road?
Since I woke this morning, a staggering 2,100 people have already lost their lives on the roads today.
In the time it took me to make a cup of coffee - 10 people died.
Ate my breakfast - 25 people died.
Took a shower - 36 people died.
Cleared my emails - 62 people died.
Walked my dogs - 113 people died.
Joined an online meeting - 225 people died.
Watched a film - 330 people died.
And by this time tomorrow, an incomprehensible 3,600 people will have died in crashes on the world’s roads.
I’d imagine most people have no idea of this shocking death toll; that road crashes are the eighth biggest killer worldwide or the biggest killer of all for five to 29-year-olds.
I think we all need to know these facts and tell as many people as we can, instead of living our lives blind to this devastating truth.
If this was a disease that we were trying to fight, we’d have endless charities set up to research a cure. We’d be desperately urged, through advertising, to donate to the charity every month, to do our bit to save lives.
But in the case of a road death cure, we don’t need to donate our hard-earned cash; we simply need to grasp reality and take responsibility for our own actions when we get behind the wheel.
We need to treat our vehicles as the lethal weapons that they really are and take a few moments before every journey to say out loud: “I’m about to drive a machine capable of killing people today, so I must take as much care as I possibly can.”
Only then, when people actually realise that they hold the key to reducing road casualties, will we see a meaningful reduction in crashes on our roads.
Only then, will the public realise that road deaths and injuries are not ‘accidents’ - they are avoidable, unacceptable and not an inevitable everyday occurrence.
So please, tell your friends, your family, your colleagues, your neighbour, the shopkeeper, the person in the pub - tell them the statistics. And tell them that you know the cure for one of the world’s biggest killers - simply paying attention, taking care and adhering to the rules of the road.
Please tell them, because in the time it’s taken me to write this blog, another 375 people have died on the roads worldwide.
Rebecca Morris DipCAM (MComms)
Marketing and Public Relations Consultant
Women in Transport Member
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