Road Safety discussions with Czech Transport Minister and UAMK in Prague

Publication date: 23 February 2012

UAMK President, Dr Oldřich Vaníček, with Czech Minister of Transport, Mr Pavel Dobeš, and FIA Region I Director General, Jacob Bangsgaard

The Czech Minister of Transport, Mr Pavel Dobeš, met with UAMK President, Dr Oldřich Vaníček, and FIA Region I Director General, Jacob Bangsgaard, on 23 February 2012 in Prague to discuss the possibility for closer cooperation on road safety awareness activities.

Mr Bangsgaard was visiting the UAMK headquarters ahead of this year’s FIA Conference Week which will be held on 26-29 June 2012. As part of the week’s programme, a road safety day organised by UAMK with a wide-range of activities for the public will be held on Wenceslas Square in the centre of Prague. This will also include demonstrations of eSafety technologies with the aim of promoting the use of advanced safety technologies in cars.

During the visit, Mr Bangsgaard was given a presentation of the Club’s headquarters, as well as a roll-over simulator demonstrating the value of seatbelts while driving at different speeds. Responding to questions by Czech national TV, Mr Bangsgaard praised the road safety campaigning efforts of UAMK, while saying that not wearing a seatbelt was one of the top three causes of road fatalities.

Dr Vaníček also stressed the importance of promoting seat belt use for the public. He said that last year there had been 707 deaths on Czech roads and 150 were drivers, with 86 not belted up. He said that it is statistically proven that two-thirds of them would probably have survived - that means 60 lives lost needlessly. He added that seatbelts are not just important for front seats but also in the rear where many fatalities are caused by the fact that the weight of the unrestrained person sitting in the back can kill the person sitting in front.