The week of 5-11 April 2004 has been designated as the Fourth Road Safety Week in the UNECE Region.

In the framework of this event, member States of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) will organize national road safety campaigns with a common target and a common slogan. The general objective of the Road Safety Weeks is, by influencing human behaviour, to save lives and reduce the number of accidents.

This time the common target is “Aggressive Behaviour on the Road” and the common slogan is “Respect is Safety”. This Fourth Road Safety Week is, therefore, aimed at combating aggressive driving behaviour by making drivers aware of the vital importance of keeping calm behind the wheel and of being respectful to other drivers. Previous Road Safety Weeks have targeted Young Road Users and Vulnerable Road Users.

Aggressive driving behaviour is all too common on our roads. It may be due to personal situations affected by emotions, time pressures or to the consumption of alcohol and/or drugs, or to the attitude of other road users. Aggressive drivers disrespect traffic rules related to, for example, distance between vehicles, speed, right of way and overtaking, often giving rise to fatal accidents.

The dates of the Fourth Road Safety Week in the UNECE Region have been chosen to coincide with the World Health Organization’s World Health Day, which will be held on 7 April 2004 and will address the theme “Safe Roads”.

At the start of the Fourth Road Safety Week, on 5 April 2004, UNECE will hold an international Seminar at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on the issue of Aggressive Driving Behaviour. I am pleased to invite all interested persons and organizations to attend this seminar.

Further information on the Fourth Road Safety Week and the Seminar are available on the UNECE website at the following address: http://www.unece.org/trans/roadsafe/rs4rs.html

I also invite countries and organizations to share the results of their work in this field by transmitting information to the secretariat. If the Fourth Road Safety Week is to be a success, it will require the fullest possible involvement of governmental and non-governmental institutions and organizations working in the areas of road safety and education, as well as local communities and the mass media.

I encourage all to participate actively in the Fourth Road Safety Week so that it can effectively contribute to the prevention of injuries and fatalities on the roads

José Capel Ferrer, Director