NGO aims to reduce road crash deaths by half (Sabong News)

A local association partnered with a non-governmental organization (NGO) to halve road crash deaths, or even reduce fatalities to zero, by the end of this decade. The Vehicle Inspection Centers Operators Association of the Philippines (VICOAP) teamed up with Project C.A.R.E.S. (Community Activities Reaching to Everyone through Services) Inc. to campaign on road safety and responsible vehicle ownership in the country. The duo lobby for programs focused on The Safe Systems Approaches of The Global Plan of the Second United Nations (UN) Decade of Action for Road Safety (UN DARS) 2021-2030. Already, Project C.A.R.E.S. has been the country’s focal road safety non-governmental organization representative to the UN’s Road Safety Collaboration Program for over two decades. It’s working with 295 NGOs under a Global Alliance for Road Safety and the International Road Victims’ Partnership from ninety countries worldwide. On the other hand, VICOAP is the sole organization of Private Motor Vehicle Inspection Centers (PMVICs) in the Philippines, with more than 70 accredited centers nationwide. “We decided to work with Project C.A.R.E.S. since safe vehicles is one in the pillars of their international advocacy,” according to VICOAP Spokesperson Atty. Fudge Tajar. “NGOs play a vital role in the growing worldwide movement to reduce the impact of road traffic injuries on society via advocacy and evidence-based programs to reduce crashes and assist the injured,” according to Chairman May Altarejos-Cueva. “We generate a demand from the public for safer roads, and when they base their interventions on evidence about what works, they can contribute to saving lives on the road.” “Vehicle safety is not an option and therefore, the mandatory comprehensive motor vehicle inspection is a must,” she maintained. Vehicle road worthiness is an intrinsic part of road safety, a shared responsibility of everyone. “Everyone is part of the solution to achieve our goal to half, if not zero, road crash deaths in the Philippines during the UN Decade,” she underscored. Vehicle road worthiness is an intrinsic part of road safety. One of our objectives as a group is to instill the idea that road safety is a shared responsibility of everyone. Road traffic safety must be a way of life with everyone being part of the solutions to achieve our goal to half if not zero road crash deaths in the Philippines during the UN Decade,” Altarejos-Cueva added. VICOAP even plans to expand the reach of their programs “to ensure that our advocacy will become part of our cultural development as a nation,” Tajar concluded.