National road safety programme GAMBIT 2005 Krystek, Ryszard
Publication details: Road safety on four continents: Warsaw, Poland 5-7 October 2005. Paper, 2005Description: 7 sSubject(s): Bibl.nr: VTI 2005.0795Location: Abstract: Usually, the following three most important factors are mentioned among many factors determining the success of actions for life and health protection in road traffic: - political will, knowledge, financial resources. The fact that Mister Aleksander Kwasniewski, the President of the Republic of Poland, took our conference under his honourable patronage, distinctly demonstrates that Polish authorities are determined to fight for the improvement of safety on our roads. Alike the decision of the Council of Ministers, which in April of this year approved the National Road Safety Programme GAMBIT 2005 as the programme for Poland for the years 2005-2013, this fact demonstrates the increase of the political will to solve the problem. And this is a problem of utmost importance; every year as a result of road accidents our society losses almost PLN 30 billion, there are 5.5 thousand casualties and ten times as many injuries, out of which approximately 20% remain disabled for the rest of their lives. Our knowledge about the factors contributing to road accidents occurrence and the preventive measures also increased. Within the period of over 10 years of work on implementation of subsequent GAMBIT programmes, we have appointed a multi-disciplinary scientific team, able to co-participate in European research programmes. The GAMBIT programme developed by the consortium of the Gdansk University of Technology, the Krakow University of Technology and the Motor Transport Institute in Warsaw, is currently being implemented by the National Road Safety Council and other central institutions. Moreover, upon initiative of several voivodship road safety councils, also voivodship and district programmes are being implemented, the objectives and strategies of which base upon guidelines of the GAMBIT 2005 Programme. Thanks to joint efforts of many institutions, organizations and people of good will, in the last 15 years Poland has significantly decreased the risk exposure of human life and health on roads, achieving a level similar to the average level of the European Union countries. Many institutions, organizations and persons that are all deeply motivated to fight the high level of health and life loss risk among road users contributed to this unquestionable Poland's success. At present the main object of our concern is financing of preventive measures. It is not easy to justify the need to fight the hazards on roads, in a period when the State budget is burdened with so many social needs. However, we continue to prove in our economic analyses that - for instance - freeing the health sector from costs of medical care for road accident casualties is one of the most advantageous action strategies. Therefore, we have just inserted the GAMBIT programme into the National Health Plan. For the purpose of implementing these tasks we use the aid funds of the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and other European funds. Furthermore, we hope that following the example of PZU other insurance companies shall also join the cooperation. The scientific research in the leading countries of the world in the area of safety demonstrates that road accidents are not inevitable as a price paid for mobility. Now, we may also join this group. The GAMBIT concept has already been implemented for 12 years. We commenced the first works in this formula in 1993, in a form of a project financed by the National Research Committee. The effects of this work, performed by many partners cooperating with scientists; the Police; the State Fire Department; the road administration on many levels, the health service, rescue services, educational personnel, non-governmental organizations, media and many other, led to a significant improvement of safety on Polish roads, as presented in the following chart.Current library | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Statens väg- och transportforskningsinstitut | Available |
Usually, the following three most important factors are mentioned among many factors determining the success of actions for life and health protection in road traffic: - political will, knowledge, financial resources. The fact that Mister Aleksander Kwasniewski, the President of the Republic of Poland, took our conference under his honourable patronage, distinctly demonstrates that Polish authorities are determined to fight for the improvement of safety on our roads. Alike the decision of the Council of Ministers, which in April of this year approved the National Road Safety Programme GAMBIT 2005 as the programme for Poland for the years 2005-2013, this fact demonstrates the increase of the political will to solve the problem. And this is a problem of utmost importance; every year as a result of road accidents our society losses almost PLN 30 billion, there are 5.5 thousand casualties and ten times as many injuries, out of which approximately 20% remain disabled for the rest of their lives. Our knowledge about the factors contributing to road accidents occurrence and the preventive measures also increased. Within the period of over 10 years of work on implementation of subsequent GAMBIT programmes, we have appointed a multi-disciplinary scientific team, able to co-participate in European research programmes. The GAMBIT programme developed by the consortium of the Gdansk University of Technology, the Krakow University of Technology and the Motor Transport Institute in Warsaw, is currently being implemented by the National Road Safety Council and other central institutions. Moreover, upon initiative of several voivodship road safety councils, also voivodship and district programmes are being implemented, the objectives and strategies of which base upon guidelines of the GAMBIT 2005 Programme. Thanks to joint efforts of many institutions, organizations and people of good will, in the last 15 years Poland has significantly decreased the risk exposure of human life and health on roads, achieving a level similar to the average level of the European Union countries. Many institutions, organizations and persons that are all deeply motivated to fight the high level of health and life loss risk among road users contributed to this unquestionable Poland's success. At present the main object of our concern is financing of preventive measures. It is not easy to justify the need to fight the hazards on roads, in a period when the State budget is burdened with so many social needs. However, we continue to prove in our economic analyses that - for instance - freeing the health sector from costs of medical care for road accident casualties is one of the most advantageous action strategies. Therefore, we have just inserted the GAMBIT programme into the National Health Plan. For the purpose of implementing these tasks we use the aid funds of the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and other European funds. Furthermore, we hope that following the example of PZU other insurance companies shall also join the cooperation. The scientific research in the leading countries of the world in the area of safety demonstrates that road accidents are not inevitable as a price paid for mobility. Now, we may also join this group. The GAMBIT concept has already been implemented for 12 years. We commenced the first works in this formula in 1993, in a form of a project financed by the National Research Committee. The effects of this work, performed by many partners cooperating with scientists; the Police; the State Fire Department; the road administration on many levels, the health service, rescue services, educational personnel, non-governmental organizations, media and many other, led to a significant improvement of safety on Polish roads, as presented in the following chart.