– NRSC Chairman, Surendra Khayyam

‘GOOD TO GO’: Children from schools around the city display their road safety paddles, vests and backpacks outside the NRSC Office, on Eve Leary, as they gear up to join the 2009 campaign under the theme: ‘Keep Us Safe’.

THE National Road Safety Council has plans for strengthening the involvement of school children in its intensified road safety campaigns during the year 2009.

So says Council Chairman, Mr. Surendra Khayyam, who expressed optimism about the role schools road safety patrols can play in heightening road safety consciousness and reducing accidents involving children on the roads.

To this end, the NRSC, in collaboration with the British High Commission, the Ministry of Home Affairs and other stakeholders will, before month-end, implement Phase One of its 2009 Road Safety Campaign, which involves the reintroduction of road safety patrols, initially in 20 schools around the coastland. The initiative is being conducted under the theme: ‘Keep Us Safe’. The theme for 2007 was: ‘Be Wise, Practice Road Safety and Stay Alive’.

Through this collaboration, the schools will be equipped with road safety patrol vests, specially worded back-packs, stop paddles, and Road Safety School Patrol booklets funded by the British High Commission.

The British High Commission, showing tangible support for the National Road Safety Council in Guyana, has been making appreciable financial investments towards this cause, and recently joined other ‘road safety champions’ in funding a road safety Jingle and Mascot competition.

Expressing appreciation for the support of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Guyana Police Force, the British High Commission and other stakeholders towards the work of the NRSC, Khayyam said that undoubtedly, this collaboration has played a great role in reducing the number of road fatalities in 2008, compared to 2007.

In 2008 there were 113 road fatalities, compared to 207 in 2007. Of the deaths in 2007, thirty were children, compared to seven in 2008.

Khayyam also thanked all those motorists who continue to show respect for the 5-Cs of road safety: Care, Courtesy, Caution, Consideration and Commonsense, and urged that pedestrians continue to be careful and exercise good judgment while using the nation’s roads.