~ submitted by Bella Dinh-Zarr

Every year 1.3 million people die and up to 50 million are disabled in traffic crashes worldwide, millions don’t receive medical supplies or are unable to access care due to unsafe roads, and countless others are left stranded without transportation options such as safe bicycle and pedestrian paths or public transport. Making roads safer has a positive impact on the environment, medical spending, quality of life and overall public health.

Right now, we can urge the president and Congress to commit to making roads safe around the world during the upcoming first UN-sanctioned Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety.  House Concurrent Resolution 74 (H. Con Res. 74), which outlines these needs and urges U.S. involvement in global road safety, needs sponsors! 

APHA has created an Action Alert so that you easily can contact the president and your Members of Congress in support of strong U.S. commitment to road safety as a public health issue, especially at the November 2009 Ministerial Meeting and Decade of Action for Road Safety (2010-2020).  

Please act now by clicking on the link below (or pasting into your browser) so we can start preventing deaths and injuries on our roads!

https://secure3.convio.net/apha/site/Advocacy?s_oo=e1Q6W8VCm-siOf7cqUJFAw..&id=161

You can also access this link via the APHA Web site (www.apha.org) by going to “Advocacy & Policy” then “Take Action”.  For more information, contact Bella Dinh-Zarr, PhD, MPH, at dinhzarr@dinhzarr.org or (202) 701-5656.

Take Action for Global Road Safety – It’s a public health, human rights and economic development issue!