ESTRADA VIVA - Liga contra o Trauma and ICART - International Coalition Against Road Trauma

1. ESTRADA VIVA - Liga contra o Trauma • and • ICART - International Coalition Against Road Trauma By Manuel João Ramos - ACA-M & FEVR - 7th May, 2009

2. fight road trauma • alert the national community to the acute need to prevent it, to manage it and to placate it • to alert national public authorities to the urgency of acting jointly and efficiently at all levels and stages of the traumatic processes • to promote research and training of professionals in the various areas of treatment of trauma, in a transdisciplinary perspective • Estrada Viva is an informal network of Portuguese NGOs dedicated to:

3. The main moments when Estrada Viva gathers is: • when organizing and celebrating the World Day of Remembrance in Portugal

4. We produce campaigns and country-wide activities.

5. We reached national recognition, with the presidency, the national parliament and the government supporting and promoting this World Day in all districts of the country.

6. Our network involves a variety of organizations:

7. road safety and bereavement organizations • health and nursing associations • civil protection and lie support organizations • driving and advanced driving schools • civil rights, consumers and environmental associations • and even local councils and footballers associations • These include:

8. Also, many well-known individualities subscribe to this informal network or coalition: • TV personalities and opinion makers • racing pilots and footballers, • medical doctors and other professionals • politicians, activists, etc.

9. We also organize and celebrate the National Day of Courtesy at the Wheel, instituted by the President of the Republic, on the fifth of May each year.

10. We’ve produced Fifteenth Commandments of Courtesy at the Wheel, based on an idea by the French Association Prévention des Comportments au Volant. • Thou shalt not use your vehicle as a menacing or as aggressive instrument. • If thou doth drive, thou shalt not consume alcoholic beverages nor products that may alter thine normal state of consciousness. • Thou shalt at all times give priority to your fellow pedestrians, even if not in crossings or before they enter them. • Thou shalt ensure the safe transportation of all passengers of thine vehicle, and specially the children. • Thou shalt accept the driving rhythm of the other drivers and thou shalt respect the legal driving limits. • Thou shalt not use the mobile phone or other distracting gadgets when driving. • Thou shalt not park thine vehicle where thou may disturb the visibility or the right of passage of you fellow pedestrians, specially the children, the elderly and handycaped people. • Thou shalt inspect the state of thine vehicle, to ensure the safety of all users of the roads. • Thou shalt not loose your temper when the road is blocked, and thou shalt not obstruct other drivers when they wish to overtake thine vehicle. • Thou shalt always halt at the Stop sign, and slow down when the yellow lights appear. • Thou shalt not park on pedestrians crossings, BUS lanes, handicapped reserved spaces and emergency exits. • Thou shalt keep calm when driving behind a learning vehicle. • Thou shalt reduce the speed in places of pedestrian transit. • In a motorway or in a highway, thou shalt not tailgate the vehicle in front of you. • Thou shalt adapt your driving manner to the atmospheric and road conditions.

11. This Day promotes courtesy at the wheel as an instrument towards: • recognition that the road is a social environment • preventive driving is more economical and environmentally conscious

12. In 2007, ACA-M (Association of Self-Mobilized Citizens) proposed to FEVR - European Federation of Road Victims - that our initiative be adopted and adapted in an international format, as ICART: INTERNATIONAL COALITION AGAINST ROAD TRAUMA

13. ICART is a network of global organizations and national Coalitions Against Road Trauma, working to highlight, address and reduce road trauma. • anyone subscribing to the coalition can do whatever they feel is needed to promote its principles of minimizing road trauma.  • The main strength of this coalition is that organizations, institutions and individuals can feel united and can demonstrate their commitment to working towards minimizing road trauma - simply by adding their name to a Coalition Against Road Trauma in their country, and through that to ICART. • Since World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims offers signatories an opportunity to point to the consequences of crashes and their severe impact, ICART is suggested as a global World Day initiative, with membership of global organizations and institutions and National Coalitions Against Road Trauma, which all countries are invited to set up.

14. ICART – has been suggested as a global initiative for the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. This Day, which is observed on the 3rd Sunday of November each year and was adopted by the United Nations in 2005, offers an opportunity to all organizations working in the field of road trauma reduction to: • publicize the messages relating to their specific work • publicize messages relating to the scale and impact of crashes • call for the urgent need for their reduction • join in the observance of the day

15. I therefore wish to invite you all to subscribe to ICART and start a National Coalition Against Road Trauma in your country. • Please, check the online information at: • http://worlddayofremembrance.org Thank you.