International Road Safety Awards 2004

Road safety has been a neglected subject for long in the developing world resulting in 85% of world’s share of road facilities. Even gruesome is the misery faced by the victims and their families. Road safety therefore should get the highest of world’s attention as being now given to fight terrorism. The complexities of road safety vary from the developed to the developing world, but globally the solutions have emerged from research, dedication and visionary endeavors.
Institute of Road Safety Education (IRTE) New Delhi, India has taken the lead to identify these committed few, audit their work and recognize their achievements so as to provide them with the necessary impetus to keep the fire burning. The IRTE Road Safety Awards were instituted in the year 2000, to acknowledge extraordinary contributions by individuals and organizations, towards development of a positive road culture in traffic management and road safety in India. With a humble beginning over 13 years ago, IRTE has come a long way in its fight against road collisions, which are classified as the single largest cause of unnatural deaths worldwide.
As per their Vision Statement, IRTE believes that every component of the road system which includes the vehicle, road infrastructure, traffic engineering, driver training, education and awareness programmes as well as the laws that govern the road, must have safety as an inherent virtue. Road Safety cannot be an external element which could be imposed upon the different components of the road system to deliver safety. The Governments must recognize this fact and involve all the stakeholders towards creating the basis of road safety.
NGOs like IRTE can be a catalyst and implement various programs but not create an ultimate solution to this grave problem on their own. The solution can emerge only from the contribution of all stake holders. Catalyzed primarily by NGOs with reinforcement from the government and responsible support from the automobile manufacturers and OEMs, oil and insurance sectors, this problem can be effectively dealt with.
The Prince Michael International Road Safety Award (U.K.) (PMIRSA) recognizes achievements and innovations for improvement in Road Safety. Instituted in 1987, the awards have given public recognition to those who have made outstanding achievements and innovations worldwide. The collaboration of IRTE and PMIRSA in 2002 was a step towards global encouragement, in building a positive road culture through safety attitudes and practices and towards reduction in road accidents.
These Awards demonstrate just what a wide range of initiatives contribute to this important cause. They recognize the professional esteem in which the winners are held. This aspect is what makes the awards unique and so highly regarded – the winners have been selected by other participating professionals. The reduction of child pedestrian casualties is a key area for all our work, but the true global significance of the importance of road safety especially in the area of child death and injury has yet to be embraced by governments in much of the developing world. These awards will do much to reinforce the need for action.
In the midst of all this are the few who are tirelessly working towards making the global roads safer irrespective of the hardships, skepticism and almost no help from the authorities. IRTE and Prince Michael International Road Safety Awards recognize such committed individuals and organizations so their efforts can bring about a revolution in road safety management in India and around the world.

Criteria for Selection for Road Safety Awards are Innovation, Achievement, Commitment, Well Researched, Replicability and Sustainability. The award ceremony this year was held in Delhi on the evening of 7 January 2004 along with Two (2) International workshops on the subjects of “Ideal Highway Patrol System for Developing Countries” and “Reducing Accident Injuries through Helmets & Seatbelts” on 7th and 8th of January respectively.
At first workshop on Highway Patrol System papers presented included the following:

Way Forward by Mr. R N Prasher Principal Secretary Transport
Govt of India
Haryana Patrol System by Mr. R N Prasher Principal Secretary Transport
Govt of India
Pakistan Motorway Police by Mr. Asif J Khawaja ARUP (www.pakroadusers.org)
Bangladesh Proposal by Mr. Rahit Bluja IRTE (www.irte.com)
Guarding Indian Highways by Ajay Dahiya Dy Comdt H Q CISF
Rescue & Emergency Response Mr. Piers Vickers Transport Specialist – World Bank
Papers presented at second workshop on reducing accidents included:
Release of Seatbelt Tool Kit by Mr. David Ward Director General F I A Foundation
Road Safety Standards by Mr. G S Sandhu Sr Asst. director ARAI
Helmets & Seatbelts by Mr. Adrian Walsh Director Road Safe
Road Safety Promotion in Pakistan Asif J Khawaja Association of Road Users of Pakistan
Safety Standards by Mr. K C Verma Director Bureau Indian standards
Both workshops had detailed inter active “Open Discussion” sessions to formulate and propose recommendations on problems faces & solutions. Mobile Collision Investigation & Analysis Laboratory was also launched during this event.
Mr. Charles M. Melhuish, Lead Transport Sector Specialist of Asian Development Bank and Mr. S Regunathan, IAS, Chief Secretary Govt of Delhi chaired the working sessions while Mr. Dhanedra Kumar, IAS, Secretary Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways was the Chief Guest of the closing session
On the evening of 7th January award presentation ceremony held at ASSOCHAM House was attended by city elites, caring organization representatives, media teams and government officials. Chief Minister Delhi and High Commissioner of United Kingdom awarded International Road safety Award 2004 to the following:

• DR Subroto Das of Life Line Foundation Vadodara
• Mr. Sham Sunder Juneja of Ludhiana Punjab ( A Missionary)
• Mr. Bhoj Kumar Pardhan of Road Safety Cell – Sikkim Police
• Mr. Qamar Ahmed of Joint Commissioner Delhi Police
• Mr. Asif J Khawaja of Association of Road Users of Pakistan (ARUP)
• Ms. Rochelle Sobel of Association of Safe Intl Road Travel (ASIRT) – USA
• Mr. Charles M Melhuish of Asian Development Bank (ADB)
• Ms. Mar Cogollos of Association for the study of Injuries - Spain

The award ceremony was followed by a cocktail party and a dinner in the honour of award winners. Workshops and award ceremony was covered by international and local electronic and print media.
IRTE also conducted a “City Tour” for the visiting delegates on the following day.