LAHORE: An international road safety delegation from the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and Italy visited the Rescue 1122 Headquarters on Thursday and reviewed road safety legislation and action plan for establishment of the Punjab Road Safety Authority.
The members of the delegation included team leader and road safety policy specialist Lance Trevor Fogg, deputy team leader Khushal Khan, vehicle safety and post crash specialist Tony Bowis, road safety engineering specialist Edoardo Mazzia, road safety campaign specialist Stoiciu Andrei and local campaign specialist Muhammad Shahid. The delegation was accompanied by Federal Ministry of Communications Director (Roads) Hameed Ullah.
The delegation reviewed the road safety legislation and road safety action plan and gave recommendations for subsequent establishment of the Punjab Road Safety Authority in order to prevent the increasing number of deaths and disabilities due to road traffic crashes in Punjab.
Punjab Emergency Service Rescue 1122 Director General Dr. Rizwan Naseer said the Punjab government had notified the Punjab Road Safety Authority and now “we are trying to establish a comprehensive mechanism for improving road safety in accordance with the vision of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif”.
“We have established a safety institute where diploma courses in health and safety are already being conducted, and now we are starting diplomas for driving instructors, crash investigators and road safety design evaluators so that – in accordance with the Punjab Emergency Service Act – concrete recommendations could be made in District Emergency Boards for the prevention of emergencies in accident-prone districts of Punjab.”
He said that the emergency service had requested the Ministry of Communication to provide road safety experts for their technical assistance in establishing the authority, and to address four pillars of traffic crashes – fault of driver, fault in vehicle, fault in design and fault of road users. He said that Rescue 1122 alone had managed over 1.5 million road traffic crashes in Punjab, with an average of 700 traffic crashes on a daily basis.
