Tuesday, 19 September 2017

GEM supports Project EDWARD

Road safety and breakdown recovery provider GEM Motoring Assist is once again proud to be supporting Project EDWARD, the European day Without A Road Death, which is scheduled for this Thursday 21 September.

GEM provided vital financial backing for the first Project EDWARD in 2016, and is now urging all road users to put safety first to achieve a day with no road deaths.

Despite significant progress in preventing road casualties in recent decades, there are still on average around 70 deaths and several hundred serious injuries every day on Europe's roads. The concept of a 'European Day Without A Road Death' was devised by TISPOL, the European Traffic Police Network, with the goal of reaching as many road users as possible and encouraging them to spare a thought for road safety.

The 2016 Project EDWARD achieved great success as an awareness-raising initiative, and the same date – 21 September – was selected for this year's Project EDWARD. GEM will be supporting efforts by police officers and road safety professionals to try to make it a day without a road death.

Neil Worth, GEM Motoring Assist road safety officer, commented, 'The tragic toll of road deaths is seen every day by police officers and collision investigators. Every day across Europe, around 70 people will set off on road journeys, but they won't make it home. That means 70 families will receive a knock at the door with the life-shattering news that they have lost a loved one in what was most likely an entirely preventable crash.

'With every road death, so many other lives are fractured and ruined. Quite simply we do not want that to happen to any family, and we will do everything we can to reduce the toll of road fatalities.

'But we cannot win on our own. Gaining the support of individual road users is vital, and we know that if everyone is prepared to reflect on the risks they face and the risks they may pose to others, then we can have safer drivers, safer road users and safer journeys.

'We are proud to be supporting TISPOL in this initiative. We firmly believe that if each road user can make small changes to reduce risk, then together we can make some big improvements – and reduce the number of people who die or are seriously injured on Europe's roads.'

The GEM Motoring Assist Road Safety Charity provided financial support to the European Traffic Police Network (TISPOL). This was used for the production of 10 awareness-raising videos, which were shared across social media in the days leading up to last year's Project EDWARD and remain available to promote safer journeys in 2017.

Each video, lasting less than 30 seconds, takes as its focus a key aspect of road safety – and offers road users a great opportunity to reflect on how they can be safer in what they do.