June 2, 2009 (WAM) -- The Health Authority - Abu Dhabi (HAAD) launched yesterday the Road Safety Campaign "Drive Safe, Save Lives" which aims at reaching out to and engaging with the youth of Abu Dhabi to highlight the importance of general safety on the roads, specifically complying with the speed limits and using of seat belt. HAAD CEO H.E. Zaid Al Siksek told a press conference yesterday that the very important initiative for the Health Authority followed landmark ?Safety in the Heat' campaign launched last week.

''Our aim is to successfully educate the youth, achieve behavioral changes and self-motivate them to drive safely, substantially reducing injuries on the roads."Drive Safe, Safe Lives" campaign is part of our larger goal to optimize the overall health of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi based on promoting health through education, awareness and campaigns about social causes and reinforcing our commitment and responsibility to the community.''he said. ''It is important to educate everyone on safe driving practices and for road safety in Abu Dhabi, we aim to achieve this through a series of educational outreach programmes and publicity campaigns. ?Drive Safe, Save Lives' is our first step in this journey.We consider this campaign a vital necessary step for improving the standard of general safety on roads at the Emirate.

He said the Health Authority is extremely grateful for the unconditional support and cooperation from our associates and partners, namely Abu Dhabi Police, Department of Transport, Emirates driving company, Salama initiative team, Abu Dhabi Municipality and Abu Dhabi Motor Sport Management (ADMM). He also thanked Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi, who has kindly consented to be the Brand Ambassador of the campaign and Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority with their generous support. Speaking at the conference, Sheikh Khalid said ''I am proud to be part of the campaign. It is very important to educate the youth and respect lives. As citizens and residents of this country, we are all equally responsible for keeping our roads safe.

''We are all blessed with a beautiful life and we should learn to respect this gift from God. I truly hope that we can raise awareness of the dangers of speeding and the importance of wearing seat belts. I hope that in the due course of time the issue of road safety becomes as close to everyone's heart as it is to mine today. ''As a professional rally driver I have experienced how dangerous fast driving can be. Speed can cost you your life, we have to be responsible. Not only for our lives but also for other lives we risk if we speed or drive recklessly. ''Abiding by speed limits and wearing seatbelts is core to one's safety, as speeding is the cause of almost all deadly accidents and buckling up would prevent a large proportion of fatal injuries.

''When I get into a car, the first thing I do is say a prayer and buckle up. ''I want to urge all youngsters - Life is a gift of God and we should not disrespect it. You are the future of Abu Dhabi and you can only help make it 100% safe. I urge you to join me in this drive. If we all channel our energies and skills the right way we will make a difference. Pledge with me to never speed on the road and always swear your seatbelts. ''I strongly believe that through this initiative we can make this country a beautiful and safer place to live,''he added. SPEECH / DR Jens Thomsen, Head of Occupational '&' Environmental Health, HAAD, told the reporters that ''Road Safety touches us all - directly or indirectly. Our death statistics tell us that Abu Dhabi Emirate has one of the world's highest rates of road deaths - an incidence of 27.4 deaths per 100,000 population - which is unacceptably high.

''In 2008 alone, 430 people have died of road traffic injuries in Abu Dhabi Emirate, which reflects 69% of all deaths from injuries and makes RTIs the leading cause of injury death. In the same time road traffic injury deaths reflect 15% of all deaths in this Emirate and are therefore the second leading cause of death overall! And we know that the vast majority of these fatal and of non-fatal road traffic injuries as well is caused by speeding in combination with not wearing a seat belt or not using a child safety restraint!,''he said ''Each of these statistics represents someone among our society - he or she could be our brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, friends or relatives. Also, very troubling is the fact that the fatality rate is particularly high amongst the younger male population - our future generation.

According to him, road traffic fatalities have a huge impact on the society - such premature deaths lead not only to great sorrow and tragedy among the affected people but also to an enormous economic burden both for the dependants and the community as a whole.

''The vast majority of road traffic injuries and deaths can be prevented. Driving within the speed limits and using seat belts and child restraints all the time while driving are the two most important aspects of safe driving! ''It is obvious that the higher the speed, the shorter the time a driver has to stop and to avoid a crash. Also the higher the speed, the more severe the impact is when a crash occurs. According to the World Health Organization for every 1 km/hr increase in speed there is a 3% increase in the incidence of injury crashes and a 5% increase in the risk of a fatal crash. Therefore an integrated speed management system with realistic, posted and enforced speed limits is absolutely necessary, but to communicate to and educate the community about the importance of obeying the speed limits and wearing the seat belt is crucial as well.

Seat belts have also been demonstrated by scientific injury research studies all over the world to be highly effective in reducing the risk of serious and fatal injuries by 40 to 65 per cent. It is also known that the combination of seat-belts plus air bags has reduced driver and front passenger deaths by an estimated 68%. Seat belts are specifically highly effective in frontal crashes, which are the most common kind of crashes and are often resulting in severe head injuries, also they are specifically highly effective in roll-over crashes and rear crashes.

Given statistics, he expplained, the first phase of the campaign is focused on speeding and usage of seatbelts. Every single resident we are able convert to a safe driver will contribute to our success. This campaign will hopefully create a positive impact on the minds of the people. ''Nothing will happen overnight. Increasing the awareness and educating the community about speeding and seat belt use and through that hopefully reducing the incidence of road traffic injuries are our objectives. We realize that changing people's attitudes and behaviors regarding speeding and seat belt use is a long-term process but want Abu Dhabi to be as safe as reasonable possible. ''We will use multiple communication channels from print and radio advertisements, outdoors, electronic communication to road shows throughout Abu Dhabi City, Al Ain and Al Gharbia. In addition to this, we are developing community initiatives in partnerships with Abu Dhabi Police, Emirates Driving Company, Salama, DoT and ADMM.