Road safety and breakdown recovery provider GEM Motoring Assist has welcomed the publication of results from the first European Day Without A Road Death. The initiative, organised by TISPOL with financial backing from GEM’s Road Safety Charity, took place on Wednesday 21 September.
GEM road safety officer Neil Worth commented on the results: “Targets give meaning and direction to road safety work. We have something to aim for, and we can consolidate and combine our efforts much more effectively when we have something to work towards,” he said.
Summary of results:
- On Wednesday 21 September 2016 (Project EDWARD day) there were 43 road deaths across 31 countries
- This compares with 70 fatalities on the same day in 2015 and represents a like-for-like reduction of almost 39 per cent.
- 19 countries recorded zero fatalities on 21 September, compared with 11 countries in 2015. Eight of these countries had recorded at least one fatality on 21 September 2015
- Seven other countries recorded a reduction in fatalities, compared with the same day in 2015
- Three countries recorded an increase in fatalities
Twitter impact:
- 7,923 Twitter posts on Monday 19th, Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st September
- 19,298,225 unique reach for #ProjectEDWARD
- Project EDWARD featured in Twitter Moments Today
- Trending in top 5 in UK
- Trending in many other countries
- At one point trending in top 50 globally
Commenting on the results, GEM Road Safety officer Neil Worth said:
“We, like all road safety organisations, understand that many factors impact on fatality figures on any particular day, so we cannot state what direct impact Project EDWARD had. What we can see is a significant improvement (43 fatalities in 2016 compared with 70 on the same day in 2015), and we believe Project EDWARD has delivered fantastic results in terms of revitalising Europe-wide collaboration and participation, as well as sharing simple road safety messages far and wide.
“We believe passionately in the positive effects Project EDWARD has achieved and we look forward to remaining a key part of Project EDWARD in future years.”
About Project EDWARD:
- Project EDWARD was introduced by TISPOL to run for the first time on 21 September 2016
- As well as raising awareness of road safety issues, a key aim of Project EDWARD was to draw attention to the value of national and Europe-wide road safety targets
- The European Commission supported Project EDWARD
- 31 European countries supported Project EDWARD
- Financial support for Project EDWARD was provided by the GEM Motoring Assist Road Safety Charity
