Activists presented their project Public Advocacy for the Implementation of EU Standards for Pedestrian Safety in Ukraine
On February 5 in Kharkiv, activists of the Association of Road Users and For Pedestrian Safety! NGOs presented their project Public advocacy for the implementation of the EU regulations on pedestrian safety and protection in Ukraine. The project is supported by the European Program of the International Renaissance Foundation.
“According to official statistics, in 2012 alone 1,875 pedestrians (including 134 children) were killed and approximately 10,000 injured in traffic accidents. In the last 5 years, more than 10,000 pedestrians were killed and nearly 60,000 were injured in Ukraine,” Project Director Viktor Kozoriz said.
He also pointed out that pedestrians in Ukraine are involved in more than 40% of fatal car accidents, one of the highest figures in Europe.
Viktor Kozoriz noted that project activists sent an appeal to President Viktor Yanukovych and Prime Minister Mykola Azarov urging them to declare 2013 the Year of Pedestrian Safety and to develop a plan to adapt Ukrainian traffic laws to the norms and recommendations of the EU. They are also urging the government to prepare and release a report on road safety in Ukraine and provide complete information about accidents in the country on a monthly basis (no such practice currently exists in Ukraine).
According to the activists, another focus of the project will be to develop and submit to the government a draft State Program for the Protection of Pedestrians.
Contacts:
Association of Road Users
(+380 57) 751 85 22
gfh2010@ukr.net
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The essential role of the European Program lies in promotion of Ukraine’s European integration, combining external pressure of the EU with the domestic one of the Ukrainian civil society, and thus contributing to promotion of open society values in Ukraine.
