Global road safety application showcased ahead of Third Global Ministerial Meeting on Road Safety
Feb. 17, 2020, [STOCKHOLM]: FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp., together with iRAP and FIA Foundation will present a new road safety application – Star Rating for Schools (SR4S) – to delegates and stakeholders gathered in Sweden for the Third Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety this week.
Developed by iRAP with the support of FedEx as founding sponsor, and the FIA Foundation as a major donor, the SR4S application supports quick interventions that save lives and prevent serious injuries by measuring, managing and communicating risks children are exposed to on a journey to school.
The app uses the already proven iRAP Star Rating methodology to assess the road features and traffic conditions known to affect safety. It provides an easy to use, systematic way of measuring the safety of a child’s journey to school from 1 to 5 stars (5 being the safest) and provides an evidence base from which recommendations to improve road safety can be made.
SR4S Director, Julio Urzua, iRAP said: “Today’s launch is the culmination of seven years of research, development and pilot studies around the world, where the application has already proven itself impactful in delivering improvements toward road safety. With the support of our NGO Lead Partners, we are ready to roll out SR4S in more than 1,000 schools around the world and anticipate a larger global demand for this life-saving tool. With the support of current and new donors we want to ensure that benefits of the SR4S app can be felt by as many children as possible.”
Rock Sherman, Vice President Road Network Europe, FedEx Express said: “Road traffic injury remains the leading cause of death for school-aged children, with many preventable deaths occurring on a child’s journey to school. We believe this application has an impressive capability to make a child’s journey to school a little bit safer. For that reason, we’re delighted to be able to support iRAP in showcasing the potential of this tool here in Sweden and open up global access to the SR4S application.”
Saul Billingsley, Executive Director of FIA Foundation, said: “iRAP’s SR4S system is a vital tool to make the case for effective infrastructure development, as well as the knowledge and expertise to support simple, easily understood and instantly impactful changes. Every day, millions of children risk their lives on their way to school on streets designed to prioritise traffic and speed. There is no time to waste: every child on every journey has the right to be protected and the SR4S system can support those protective measures.”
The Star Rating for Schools application will be officially launched during the Child Health Initiative ‘This is My Street: Safe and Healthy Journeys for Children and Youth’ Conference, an official pre-event of the Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety.
The life-saving potential of the app has already been recognised, with iRAP being awarded the Prince Michael International Road Safety Award in 2018.
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