PRC’s Traffic Police Undergo Three-Week Road Safety Workshop

Manila, Philippines – A three-week training workshop on road safety and traffic enforcement opened 2006-08-16 in Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, to expose traffic police officers to international best practices and to the programs of the Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

The training, part of a technical assistance (TA) grant approved by ADB in November 2005 and part of a national program to help the country improve road safety and transport sustainability, is organized by the lead road safety and traffic management agency in the PRC, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), and ADB.

Five hundred traffic police officers representing the 31 provinces and autonomous regions of the PRC are attending the training. Six international experts from the Traffic Police Departments of Australia, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, and Japan, and some domestic consultants are conducting the training and developing guidelines for best practice.

“The TA aims to improve the safety and efficiency of road transport operations, benefit low-income groups, and increase overall economic benefits from road investments. The TA will complement the programs of the Government and ADB in strategically focused areas, and enhance the capacity of road and traffic agencies,” says Kim Jraiw, Senior Transport Specialist and TA Team Leader.

The Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP), which is cofinancing of the TA, represents the first private sector participation in road safety in the PRC. GRSP is operating on behalf of seven of its business members (Ford, General Motors, Honda, Michelin, Renault, Shell, and Toyota).

“Road accidents reflect the inability of the road and enforcement agencies and communities to fully utilize the valuable asset that a road transport system is. If people can not safely reach the destination, the road system does not achieve its full benefit,” says Mr. Jraiw.

Road accidents are a human tragedy that results in health, environmental, and social problems, and have significant impacts on national economic growth strategies. The World Health Organization (WHO) forecasts that road accidents will move from the ninth to the third most serious health problem facing the developing world within the next 10 years. In recognition of this, the United Nations has, for the first time, integrated road safety into its policies on sustainable development.

The problem of road safety is acute in the PRC. During 2000–2005, around 600,000 people were killed and over 3 million injured in road accidents, equivalent to 1 fatality every 5 minutes. It is estimated that road accidents in the PRC had impacts on over 18 million people, either as victims of accidents or as family members of those involved in the accidents.

ADB has a specialized road safety web site to help developing member countries address the problem. “Road safety has a vital role to play in helping to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. It must be integrated with the traditional components of road infrastructure planning, design and operation,” says Nigel Rayner, Director of ADB’s Transport Division for East Asia.

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