PHOTO: EXPRESS/FILE
LAHORE:
World Remembrance Day, celebrated on November 18 (today), was observed by Rescue 1122 in memory of the victims of road traffic victims and to pay a tribute to emergency responders.
Seminars, rallies and workshops were organised to highlight the significance of safer roads and mobility which is based on the second pillar of the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety.
Rescue 1122 Director General Dr Rizwan Naseer was invited as a chief guest at a seminar commemorating the day on Sunday. The seminar was organised by the Institute of Road Safety Traffic Environment.
Speaking at the seminar, Naseer revealed that nearly 1.3 million people die while 50 million are disabled every year around the world due to road traffic accidents. Over 90% of these deaths occur in developing countries such as Pakistan, he said.
He maintained that Rescue 1122 has rescued 2.3 million victims of road traffic crashes across the province so far. The emergency service is managing around 900 crashes on a daily basis, he said.
He said that road traffic crashes have been observed as the leading cause of injuries since the inception of the emergency service in 2004. Out of the 2.3 million who were injured, 242,404 sustained head injuries, 41,948 has spinal injuries, 217,834 had multiple fractures and 353,622 had single fractures.
Naseer highlighted that if concrete steps are not taken at this stage on a priority basis, then every family in Punjab will have been affected by a road traffic accident.
Enforcement agencies need to come forward to implement road safety laws, he maintained, highlighting that it is the responsibility of all the citizens to abide by traffic laws and regulations.
The director general also directed district emergency officers to conduct research in their relevant areas. He asked them to identify black spots and urged them to take the district government on board in order to take step for community safety.
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