S O L - S A V E O U R L I V E S . A C O M P R E H E N S I V E R O A D S A F E T Y S T R A T E G Y F O R C E N T R A L E U R O P E

THE SOL PARTNERSHIP S IGNED THE SOL V IS ION STATEMENT IN WARSAW

DEAR READERS

THE SOL eMAGAZINE

The SOL eMAGAZINE is produced by the SOL consor-

tium. All articles are written by the SOL partners. The

responsibility for all content and statements made lies

with the authors. The eMagazine does not represent

the opinion of the European Communities. The pro-

ject „SOL – Save our Lives“ in the Central Europe

Program www.central2013.eu is co-financed by the

European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Find more about SOL on: www.sol-project.eu

Welcome to the second issue of the SOL project

newsletter. With the pilot projects now well on

their way, we would like to inform you on what

is happening on road safety in these months.

On the May 11th the United Nations launched

worldwide the New Decade of Action of Road Safe-

ty, setting the goal for the decade: “to stabilize and

then reduce the forecast level of road traffic fatali-

ties around the world” by 2020. Millions of deaths

could potentially be prevented as a result. The

United Nations’ Decade of Action for Road Safety

2011 – 2020 is our opportunity to make our com-

munities and streets safer wherever we live.

In the current newsletter, you can also learn more

about the polish partner WORD, the first and only

Regional Road Traffic Centre in Poland, and the Pi-

lot Area of Olsztyn, in Warmia-Mazury region.

Enjoy reading

Alberto Milotti Project Manager SOL

The SOL Partnership in a interactive group

session in Brescia defined what they want

as project’s Vision during the lifetime of

The supporting principles of this vision are

interdisciplinary and self-completing: multi-

stakeholders partnership, road safety ma-

nagement, good practice analysis, transnati-

onal learning and network, active involvement

of SOL communities, evidence based and

results focused activities, innovative projects

and programmes to be developed. “These will

be the cornerstones of our project during its

life and after, and will help SOL to achieve its

results”, stated Alberto Milotti, the SOL Pro-

ject Manager.

The base “Save Our Lives” vision would like

to help the local communities to develop new

guidelines in order to reduce the number of

road accident and of injuries and deaths. SOL

the project: “A region free of road-crash

death and injury, safe for all road users in

every community”.

wants to develop a road safety strategy based

on real data and wants to define an action

plan to reduce the number of victims starting

from a bottom-up approach with the active

involvement of local communities.

The principles and the Vision will support the

partners and their national, regional and local

communities towards the achievement of the-

se principles. So they will be able to align with

the SOL partner values and culture.

The Vision Statement was signed during a

press Conference in March 2001 in Warsaw

on 1st March 2011. “This statement outlines

our goals not only in our participating project

areas but in the Central Europe as a whole”

stated Guido Piccoli, the Director of ALOT.

ISSUE No. 02 JUNE 2011

Picture: istock

The SOL project was prominently presented

during two high-level international road

safety events in March and April. Kathleen

Elsig of GRSP was invited by the United Na-

The SOL presentation focused on building the

capacity of local and regional road safety pro-

fessionals and how SOL aims to strengthen the

link between national road safety policies and

decision-makers and local action through the

SOL multistakeholder groups at the local and

national levels. There were several questions

from the participants about the stakeholders

involved at the local and national levels and

about the training programmes that are being

developed as part of SOL.

A presentation was made on SOL during the 13th

tions Economic and Social Commission for

Europe (UNECE) to make a presentation on

SOL at the meeting of Working Party 1 (WP1)

on 21 March.

The meeting provided a high

profile opportunity to present the

SOL project to representatives

of the international road safety

community.

UN Road Safety Collaboration in London from

11 – 13 April 2011. The meeting took place in

conjunction with the high-profile launch of the

new Commission for Global Road Safety report

entitled “Time for Action”. The focus of the UN

Road Safety Collaboration meeting, which con-

vened 100 representatives of more than 60

organizations, was the launch of the Decade of

Action for Road Safety 2011 – 2020, the newly

established Road Safety Fund and discussion on

how Collaboration members can assist coun-

tries to implement their national plans of action.

June 2011 ISSUE No. 02

Picture: FGM-AMOR

2

THE SOL PROJECT WAS PROMINENTLY PRESENTED DURING INTERNATIONAL ROAD SAFETY EVENTS

3

S ITUATIONAL ASSESSMENT TO DEVELOP A ROAD SAFETY SYSTEM AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL

“A situational assessment is a crucial part

of developing a road safety system at the

community level. This will help the commu-

nities strengthen and speed-up road safety

The SOL situational assessment took place in

all SOL communities with the use of specially

designed survey tools including a road safety

assessment, institutional capacity assess-

ment, public opinion survey and stakeholder

analysis.

The data collected as part of the situational

assessment will be used for 3 main reasons:

To inform the development of the local road

safety strategy – to ensure it is soundly-based

and identifies the main issues.

To ensure the Action Plan is targeted, gives

value for money and is achievable. To be the

baseline for future monitoring and assess-

ment of the interventions in the community.

Four types of data were collected: road safety

statistics, information on the community’s

institutational and professional capacity to

implement targeted long term programmes, a

progress”, says Robert Staba, Road Safety

Commission Secretary for AMZS in Slovenia.

AMZS is the SOL partner in Slovenia.

public opinion survey and a stakeholder map.

The main objectives of the public opinion and

knowledge survey for the SOL project were to

understand respondents’ attitudes primarily

regarding:

• travel preferences and the link between

road safety and sustainable mobility

• general road safety attitudes such as the

perception of risks of a road crash by a

pedestrian, cyclist, in comparison to other

risks

• perception of child injury risks in traffic

• biggest risk factors in a region and wheth-

er a government is tackling road safety is-

sues well enough

The survey outcomes will be used:

• to support the strategy of development,

• for advocacy purposes

Since the middle of 2010 you can find the SOL

website online under www.sol-project.eu!

This website provides you with all the informa-

tions about the project, the partners, the pilot

areas with planned actions and campaigns.

Furthermore news and events in the field of

THE SOL WEBSITE

Road Safety are available. The website will be

updated continously, available in all project lan-

guages and sections like the best practice ex-

amples will be implemented in the near future.

Have a look at:

www.sol-project.eu

Picture: iStock

Picture: iStock

THE SOL PARTNERS: WORD OLSZTYN (REGIONAL ROAD TRAFFIC CENTRE)

WORD Olsztyn (Regional Road Traffic Centre)

was established in 1998 and operates in two

main areas: traffic education and road safety. In

the frame of the first area WORD Olsztyn: runs

state examinations for candidates for the drivers,

In 2003 the regional board upgraded the status

of WORD to Regional Road Safety Centre – the

first and only such a centre in Poland. Currently

the centre is responsible for initiating, coordinat-

ing and financing the comprehensive regional

road safety programme and its activities.

The region of Warmia Mazury is Poland’s

leader in regional road safety action. Between

2004 – 2010 the region has reduced its road

death number by more than 49% and accident

severity by 38 %. Since 2004 the region has

been running its Road Safety Programme – the

“Warmia Mazury GAMBIT”. Its strategic goal is to

educates and examines the driving instructors,

organizes various courses e.g. in the field of ve-

hicle diagnostics, transport of hazardous materi-

als, theoretical and practical knowledge of road

safety, improving driving techniques.

reduce road deaths by 50 % until 2013. When the

programme was launched the number of road

deaths per 100 accidents was 15.8 compared

to 9.7 in 2010. In the SOL Project WORD Olsztyn

focuses on strengthening the existing road safety

management structures, especially in three main

areas: speed management, alcohol impairment

in road traffic and child prevention from road

crashes. We wor on increasing the involvement

of promotion campaigns in road safety activities

in the region as well as strengthening relation-

ships with the main stakeholders in the process

of road safety development in Warmia-Mazury.

The region of Warmia Mazury

is Poland’s leader in regional

road safety action. Between

2004 – 2010 the region has re-

duced its road death number by

more than 49 % and accident

severity by 38 %.

4

June 2011 ISSUE No. 02

Picture: WORD

THE SOL P ILOT AREAS: POLISH WARMIA-MAZURY

The SOL project in Polish Warmia-Mazury

region will be delivered as a pilot action in

three towns: Olsztyn, Barczewo and Nidzica

although, thanks to very broad communica-

The first pilot action is in Olsztyn and tackles

the problem of drink driving. The main partner

for this action is the Municipal Centre for the

Prevention and Therapy of Addictions (MZ-

PiTU), an organisation which deals with the

problem of alcohol abuse in general and by

road users. Besides, many other regional part-

ners will be involved in these activities e.g.

regional and local police, media, business.

The other two actions are targeting chil-

dren safety in road traffic, especially around

schools and educational institutions. WORD

Olsztyn’s partners for these activities are co-

ordinators from local road safety education

tion and information activities, it will influ-

ence the whole region. The coordination of

these actions is on WORD Olsztyn.

centres operated at selected schools. This

action will be delivered as a comprehensive

measure, it means it will cover education,

engineering and enforcement measures. In

particular it will target speed in areas typi-

cally used by children. The action focused on

speed will be mainly implemented by the Ol-

sztyn Regional Police and road administration,

also partners from local institutions will join

the working group. Both pilot actions will be

delivered at the same time in two locations:

around Primary School no. 1 in Barczewo and

School Complex no. 3 in Nidzica

The project SOL shall help to prevent road cra-

shes, deaths and injuries in the Central Europe

Space (CEUS). In 12 pilot areas of the 7 countries

Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slo-

venia, Italy and Austria targeted strategies will

be developed implementing effective program-

mes to build a transnational road safety network.

Find detailed informations to all pilot areas on

teh website of SOL: www.sol-project.eu

THE PILOT AREAS OF SOL:

• Poland: Olsztyn, Barczewo, Nidzica

• Czech Republic: Region Liberec and Kromeriz

• Slovakia: City of Prešov and Region of Prešov

-Selfgovernment County

• Hungary: City of Gyor

• Slovenia: Tolmin, Kočevje and Maribor

• Italy: Province of Brescia and Mantua

• Austria: Province of Styria

THE P ILOT AREAS OF THE PROJECT SOL

GERMANYCZECH REPUBLIC

AUSTRIA

ITALY

SLOVAKIA

POLAND

SLOVENIA

HUNGARY

The SOL Countries

Picture: WORD

Picture: WORD

5

LAUNCH OF THE DECADE OF ACTION FOR ROAD SAFETY 2011 – 2020 IN EUROPE

On 11 May, dozens of countries around the

world kicked off the first global Decade of Ac-

tion for Road Safety 2011 – 2020. All around

the world governments are committing to take

new steps to save lives on their roads. The

In Hungary the WHO Country office, Hungary,

along with the Ministry of Development, the Glo-

bal Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) (and other

nongovernmental organizations from Hungary),

the national police and the national transport

authority launched the campaign. A press con-

ference was held for the main media channels.

At the end of the event, all stakeholders signed

an agreement.

In the evening, motorcycles starting from dif-

ferent ends of Budapest met at Florian Square,

where a candlelight memorial was constructed

to commemorate people who have died in road

Decade seeks to prevent road traffic deaths

and injuries which experts project will take the

lives of 1.9 million people annually by 2020.

In Europe in most of the countries the launch

of the charter was celebrated.

accidents (see picture above). Following Euro-

pean Union recommendations, Hungary is about

to launch its second road safety action plan, co-

vering 2011 – 2013.

In Austria the national event for the „Decade of

Action for Road Safety 2011 – 2020“ was focu-

sing on child safety and in this context on the

compulsory use of bicycle helmets. The Austrian

Minister of transport presented a new aware-

ness video and the latest facts and figures on

this issue. Furthermore, the Minister covered the

measures for vulnerable road users in the Aust-

rian Road Safety Programme 2011 – 2020.

The United Nations General As-

sembly has set the goal for

the decade: “to stabilize and

then reduce the forecast level

of road traffic fatalities around

the world” by 2020. Millions of

deaths could potentially be pre-

vented as a result.

6

June 2011 ISSUE No. 02

Picture: Deak-Kapusi

In Slovenia the charter was launched in the cap-

ital Ljubljana. During the last decade, Slovenia

has been one of the most successful countries

in the European Region to decrease the number

of road traffic fatalities: by about 50 %.

The charter was signed by Dr Danilo Türk,

President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Dorijan

Marušič, Minister of Health, Dr Patrik Vlačič, Min-

ister of Transportation, Ms Katarina Kresal, Min-

ister of the Interior, Mr Zoran Jankovič, Mayor

of Ljubljana and representatives of several other

institutions and nongovernmental organizations.

Along with speeches and presentations the

event included various activities taking place in

the main pedestrian area in Ljubljana.

Slovenia plans to further decrease the number of

road traffic fatalities by 50 % in the next decade

to 35 per 1,000,000 inhabitants.

In Poland the road safety campaign, “Decade

for Action on Road Safety” was launched by

the United Nations, WHO and the International

Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent. The

Marshall of the Lower House of Parliament as

well as the President of the Parliamentary Team

for Road Safety Affairs were two important par-

ticipants. Experts presented findings about road

safety, current work done by the Ministry of In-

terior Affairs and about visibility on the roads.

Other informal events took place, including

Various presentations by the Oncology Centre,

the Heart Transplant Centre and the Union of the

Spirit Industry. The main priorities of the road

safety decade were presented.

In Slovakia the SATC Slovakia (Slovenský auto-

turist klub) is happy to contribute to the global

Decade of Action. In cooperation with Traffic Po-

lice Department of Slovak Republic, Red Cross

Slovakia, Slovak Motorcycle Sport Federation

(SMF), CESMAD Slovakia (Slovak Association

of Road Transport Operators) and local driving

schools, the SATC organized and coordinated an

event in the city Nitra, which included several

sub-events and activities.

In Italy the Italian Automobile Club (ACI) and Ital-

ian Minister of Health hosted a press conference

for launching the UNO “Decade of Action. The

Italian Automobile Club (ACI), actual Vice Presi-

dent of the International Automobile Association,

with Italian Ministry of Health and Ministry on

Transport hosted a press conference for launch-

ing the Decade of Action. During the Press Con-

ference the President of ACI stated the 2010

revision of the Road Traffic Act (or Code) results

in a reduction of 11 % of deaths. He informed

also that the Automobil Club will continue with

itsinitiative “Ready2Go” at the motordrome of

Vallelunga oriented to students between 15 and

18 years.The United Nations‘ Deca-

de of Action for Road Safety

2011 – 2020 is our opportunity

to make our communities and

streets safer wherever we live.

Pictures: GRSP

7

www.decadeofaction.org

SOL – A COMPREHENSIVE ROAD SAFETY STRATEGY FOR CENTRAL EUROPE

The main goal of the project is to promote

sustainable mobility and increase awareness

for safety issues as well as contributing to the

achievement of higher quality of living condi-

tions.

The approach of SOL sees Road-Safety within

the context of sustainable mobility, i.e. to make

walking and cycling safe and to promote a mod-

el shift from the private car to public transport.

SOL unites some of the most competent RS or-

ganizations from CEUS and worldwide, among

them the Global Road Safety Patnership (GRPS).

The multi-sector partners from eight countries

of CEUS have jointly developed a strategy that

supports the region in catching up with highest

EU standards in Road Safety.

A.L.O.T. Agency of East Lombardy for Transport and Logistics (Italy)

Austria Mobility Research FGM-AMOR (Austria)

Province of Styria – Traffic Department (Austria)

University of Tuebingen, Institute of Geography (Germany)

HBH Projekt spol. s r.o. (Czech Republic)

ITS Motor Transport Institute(Poland)

University of Zilina(Slovakia)

Global Road Safety Partnership Hungary(Hungary)

KTI Institute for Transport Sciences(Hungary)

Automobile Association of Slovenia(Slovenia)

ZAS – The Association of the Driving Schools in the Slovak Republic(Slovakia)

WORD Olsztyn organization(Poland)

12 PROJECT PARTNERS FROM 8 COUNTRIES OF CENTRAL EUROPE

The project „SOL – Save our Lives“ in the Central Europe Program www.central2013.eu

is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Imprint:

Texts: Alberto Milotti, A.L.O.T.; Kathleen Elsig, GRSP; Joanna Zukowska, WORD Olsztyn; Volker Hoffmann, FGM-AMOR

Design by FGM-AMOR

8

June 2011 ISSUE No. 02