No. H035/11
For release - May 11, 2011
OTTAWA — To celebrate today’s official launch of the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety, Transport Canada is challenging all Canadian road users to make Canada’s roads the safest in the world.
Many countries around the world are participating in the launch by illuminating selected landmarks in yellow. In Canada, the CN Tower will be lit up to mark the occasion.
Canadian road users can make a difference by making safe decisions on the roadways. We can each do our part by:
- driving sober;
- wearing a seatbelt;
- observing speed limits;
- not using cell phone or texting devices while driving; and
- properly securing our children in the appropriate child car seats.
Motorists should also always pay attention to vulnerable road users (pedestrians and cyclists), and vulnerable road users should always pay attention when using or crossing a street. Let’s take action now to make Canada’s roads the safest in the world.
To support the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety and promote a safety culture in Canada, 2011 has been designated Canada’s Year of Road Safety. Transport Canada is asking Canadians to rethink the way they drive. More information can be found at www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety2011.
In Canada, one person dies every four hours on our roads and approximately 500 people are injured per day. Worldwide, approximately 1.3 million people are killed in road crashes each year and about 20 to 50 million are injured. This number is expected to rise over the next 20 years, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. In March 2010, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution establishing the Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020). This initiative, led by the World Health Organization, aims to first stabilize and then reduce the expected number of road traffic deaths around the world by promoting safety awareness activities at the regional, national and global levels. More information on the Decade of Action can be found at www.decadeofaction.org.
For more information on Transport Canada’s road safety programs, please call
1-800-333-0371.
– 30 –
Transport Canada is online at www.tc.gc.ca. Subscribe to news releases and speeches at www.tc.gc.ca/e-news and keep up-to-date on the latest from Transport Canada.
This news release may be made available in alternative formats for persons living with visual disabilities.
