Article Text
Abstract
Road traffic accidents take young lives indiscriminately. Every day, over 1000 young people are killed on the world's roads. This issue is a global health concern and is recognised by the WHO as the leading cause of death among 15- to 25-year olds. In many cases, young people are often the cause of the problem; by driving too fast, disregarding road safety measures or taking greater risks as road users. In the face of such problems, young people from around the world have mobilised to address global road safety and have pledged to become part of the solution.
In doing this, youth representatives from around the world have united to form YOURS, first Youth NGO for Road Safety. YOURS represents ‘Youth for Road Safety’, its primary aims are to inspire young people to take change their road behaviour, to advocate for young people and to build real capacity to reduce the amount of young people killed and seriously injured on the roads.
This session comprises discussion on youth engagement in road safety. In particular, it will draw upon official statistics and scientific research that presents the issue in context. The session aims to present concrete solutions to deal with the problem as well as focus on the issue of engaging young people in road safety action. It will be particularly useful for stakeholders in road safety, injury precention and services to young people.
We also wish to propose a Youth Plenary session for this cause.