On 20 May, the Automobile Club Albania (ACA) received the European Road Safety Charter’s Excellence in Road Safety Award for best practices. For the 2016 awards, the Charter had chosen to award actions on youth and innovation.
Selected from nearly 100 entries, the ACA education campaign targeted children from 5 to 12 years old and included the broadcasting of a series of cartoons on national TV channels, in schools and in kindergartens. In future, the programme is to be gradually introduced in primary schools all over the country. By educating children, the campaign seeks to improve adults’ behaviour in a country with poor knowledge of traffic rules, low awareness of risks and a very high fatality rate.
The ERSC jury commented: “The initiative was awarded for its innovative approach to changing road users’ behaviour in a context where new habits and attitudes must be built without any tradition. Focusing on the new generation to influence all groups of users seems to be very efficient in the given context.
“The initiative is also a good example of how existing good practice and tools can be reused with maximum efficiency and minimum investment.”
The ceremony took place in the Bibliotheque de Solvay in Brussels, during which were present Violeta Bulc, European Commissioner for Transport, Mr. Jean Todt, FIA President who was appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, as his Special Envoy for Road Safety, Mr. Francois Bellot, Belgian Minister of Mobility & Transport, Mr. Niko Leka, ACA President and so many others.
The award of Excellence in Road Safety was given to Mr. Niko Leka by Jean Todt.
First published on www.ITSInternational.com
