A CHILDREN Road Safety Project has been launched by the Caribbean District of Optimist International, aimed at making the roads safer for children in 50 towns across the island.
The organisers are hoping to raise $1 million for the project, which will seek to place pedestrian crossings in 50 towns, and to erect road signs.
At a fund-raising luncheon held at the Hilton Kingston Hotel last month, Dr. Lucien Jones, Vice Chairman of the National Road Safety Council, said the project was timely as the Council was seriously concerned about the fatalities on the country's roads.
He noted that since 1993, when road fatalities totalled 434, last year was the first time that the figure exceeded 400. He pointed out that road fatalities had decreased prior to 2002 to the extent where the 1999 toll stood at 295.
The Vice Chairman said that road safety issues and fatalities were of serious concern on the international front as well. In a report earlier this month, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that road traffic accidents was the world's 9th leading cause of death, with over 1.2 million people killed in 2000. The WHO projects that by the year 2020, this figure could double.
"Although car ownership is greater in industrialised than developing countries, studies show that in 2000, 90 per cent of all traffic fatalities occurred in low and middle income societies. The majority of the victims of these incidents were people who were never able to afford a car- pedestrians, cyclists and users of public transportation," the report said.
Dr. Jones said that road fatality figures were alarming when compared to the 2.9 million persons who died in 2000 because of HIV/AIDS, the 7 million who died from high blood pressure, the 5 million who died from tobacco and the 4 million who died from high cholesterol.
Sponsors of the project, which was identified as the Optimists' major charity for 2002/03 are, Bank of Nova Scotia, Blue Cross of Jamaica, Capital and Credit Merchant Bank, Civil Aviation Authority, Courts Jamaica, Edwin Charley, HEART Trust/NTA, Jamaica Electrical Technology, Jemar Printery, Life of Jamaica, National Property and General Insurance, National Water Commission, the Optimist Club of Kingston, Prime Insurance Brokers, the Urban Development Corporation, Supreme Ventures, Tru Juice, the National Export Import Bank, and Zoukie Trucking.
Optimist International is a service organisation that focuses on the development of young people throughout the world, in keeping with its motto: 'Friend of Youth'.
