Road safety in the Russian Federation
In 2010, more than 26500 people died as a result of road traffic crashes. Despite large improvements observed in the last years, the road traffic fatality rate for 2010 was 18,7 per 100 000 population, still higher compared to the European regional average rate of 13 per 100 000. Of all deaths, 42% are vulnerable road users and the majority of them are pedestrians.
Fact sheet
Road safety project
In February 2010, the project Road Safety in 10 Countries – RS10 was presented in Moscow to a large audience of stakeholders dealing with road safety. Later in that year, a Project Advisory Board was formally established and two pilot Regions for the project selected: Lipetskaya and Ivanovskaya Oblast. In the Russian Federation the RS10 project is mainly focusing its activities on increasing seat belt rate and on speed control. A WHO, the Global Road Safety Partnership, the World Bank and the International Injury Research Unit at Johns Hopkins University are the international consortium partners who will provide technical guidance and funding.
The activities of the project started in September 2010, with observational studies on seat belt wearing rate and surveys on knowledge/attitude/practice and with capacity building on how to influence road users’ behavior. Based on results of focus groups, a newly designed large social marketing campaign was launched first in Lipetskaya Oblast in November 2010 and then in Ivanovskaya Oblast in May 2011. The motto of the campaign was “Do not disconnect the line of life” which well matched with the logo of the campaign represented by a seat belt with the electrocardiogram line inscribed on it. The campaign included the broadcasting of video and radio clips targeting specific segments of the population, outdoor advertising, and a series of public relation initiatives. These initiatives were developed and conducted with the support of the local police – GIBDD.
The initiative “Dva Sh: shokolade/shtraf” got large attention on regional and federal media; according to this initiative drivers and passengers who were buckled up received a bar of chocolate with the logo of the campaign, whereas those who were not received a fine as per the current legislation in force. During the period of the campaign, the police officer strengthened enforcement activities up to 10 times compared to pre-campaign measures.
An observational study on seat belt use conducted after the active phase of the camping was over showed that the seat belt use increased in some locations up to 38% compared to pre-campaign measures. Starting from July 2011, activities of the project have also been focusing on speed enforcement and control. A new social marketing campaign is due to be launched in Lipetsk in August 2011.The Project Advisory Board will meet again in September 2011; the meeting will be an opportunity to review all activities conducted so far and to plan what the Consortium of Partners will implement in the next biennium.
For more information, please contact :
Francesco Zambon in the WHO Moscow office on f.zambon@whorussia.org or
Margie Peden at WHO headquarters on pedenm@who.int.