UNUnited Nations Economic Commission for Europe

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UNECE Seminar on Aggressive Driving, 5 April 2004

An international Seminar on Aggressive Driving will be held in the Palais des Nations in Geneva on 5 April 2004 to launch the Fourth Road Safety Week in the UNECE Region (Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia, and North America).

The aim of the Seminar, organized by the UNECE Transport Division, is to explore the phenomenon of aggressive driving and to discuss ways of curbing it.

“Road accidents still cause over 120,000 fatalities and 2.4 million injuries every year in the UNECE region. It is not known how many of them are due to aggressive driving, but it is probably a significant proportion”, says José Capel Ferrer, Director, UNECE Transport Division.

Nowadays, aggressive driving is all too common on our roads. We may all have been victims of it and most of us may also drive aggressively from time to time although we may not even realize it. Aggressive driving includes such behaviour as speeding and non-respect for traffic lights and other traffic rules, but also includes driving too close to the preceding vehicle intimidating its driver and forcing him or her to go faster or to get out of the way, aggressive flashing of headlights and even double parking. It is not the same as road rage although it may lead to road rage.

The Seminar will consist of two parts. Part 1 will examine the causes, effects and consequences of aggressive driving and will feature presentations by psychology professors specializing in this field as well as by representatives of road accident victims organizations. Part 2 of the Seminar will look at various ways of combating aggressive driving with presentations on communicating with the public, education, punishments and reducing aggressive driving by improving traffic management. The Seminar will also feature a round-table discussion among the numerous non-governmental organizations involved in road safety.

Admission to the Seminar is free of charge and there is no limit on participation. However, participants are required to register preferably before 31 March 2004. Information on the Seminar can be found at the following Internet site:

http://www.unece.org/trans/roadsafe/rs4sem.html

For further information, please contact:

José Capel Ferrer, Director,
Marie-Noelle Poirier or Christopher Smith
Transport Division
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
Palais des Nations
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Phone: +41 (0) 22 917 24 00, 917 32 59 or 917 32 98
Fax: +41 (0) 22 917 00 39
E-mail: [email protected]
[email protected] - [email protected]

Ref. ECE/TRANS/04/P02