| National Charter Tour

 

An impressive 35 Polish entities including companies, local and public authorities and non-governmental organisations signed the Charter with concrete road safety action plans to help reduce the number of fatalities on Polish roads.

 

Ms Marie-Therese Duffy-Haeusler, Head of Representation of the European Commission in Poland, opened the National Charter Tour by welcoming the 100 participants, Radosław Stępień, the Polish Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Infrastructure, and Ms Isabelle Kardacz, Head of the Road Safety Unit of the European Commission.

 

Radosław Stępień, underlined the Ministry of Infrastructure’s active involvement in the European Road Safety Charter since 2004 and their commitment, alongside the Polish National Road Safety Council, to changing the face of road safety in Poland. Mr Stępień speech included statistics showing an improvement in Road Safety in Poland: in comparison with 2007, there were 482 less road accidents, 146 less fatalities and 1 127 less people injured in 2008 and in comparison with the first 9 months of 2008, 2009 saw a 10% reduction in both the number of accidents and people injured and a 16% reduction of road fatalities.

 

Statistics have also shown that where infrastructure improvements have been made in highlighted areas of concern, a high percentage of decreased fatalities has been observed. Mr Stępień commented that a new aim is to reduce the number of people killed in accidents on national roads by 75% by 2013.

 

Ms Isabelle Kardacz, Head of the Road Safety Unit of the European Commission, stated it was evident that Poland wanted to see a change with regard to its record on road safety. The large amount of new signatories shows that there is a will to change the current situation and proves a new starting point in the right direction. Ms Kardacz declared her conviction that the event would see further active involvement from the government and collaboration between stakeholders, state authorities and grass root organisations will combat the huge amount of fatalities on Polish roads; she welcomed the response from Polish entities that have become signatories to the Charter and is looking forward to seeing a significant reduction of accidents and fatalities.

 

The event concluded with a formal signing ceremony in which 35 Polish entities became part of the large Charter family, those entities being: 3M Poland, Akademia Bezpiecznej Jazdy, ALSTOM POWER SP Z O. O, Auto Klub Dziennikarzy Polskich, Axel Springer Polska Sp. z o.o., redakcja "Auto Swiat",Biuro Ekspertyz i Projektów Budownictwa Komunikacyjnego "EKKOM", Centrum Szkolenia Kierowców "DORA & PIOTR", DHL Polska, Ekokierowcy.pl, Fundacja OPTIMO MODO,Fundacja Wielka Orkiestra Świaątecznej Pomocy, Grupa LOTOS SA, Instytut Transportu Samochodowego, IV Liceum Ogólnoksztalcace w Lublinie, Magazyn Zmotoryzowanych MOTO,Ogólnopolska Federacja Młodzieąowych Samorządów Lokalnych, PKN ORLEN, Politechnika Łódzka, Polkomtel, Polska Izba Spedycji i Logistyki, Polskie Stowarzyszenie Motorowe Doskonalenia Technik i Bezpieczeństwa Jazdy, Polskie Radio, Promotor Szkoła Bezpiecznej Jazdy, Przedszkole Nr 50 w Lublinie, Security Training and Consulting Sp. z o.o., Shell Polska, Szkoła Podstawowa nr 32 w Lublinie, Studenckie Koło Naukowe Transportu, Spedycji i Logistyki Szkoły Głównej Handlowej,Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Dzieci, Unilever Poland S.A, Warszawska Masa Krytyczna, Wydawnictwo RONDO, Wydział Ruchu Drogowego Komendy Stołecznej Policji, Zespół Szkół Samochodowych i Licealnych Nr 2w Warszawie, Zrzeszenie Międzynarodowych Przewożników Drogowych.