Saving Lives, Policy Advocacy, Road Safety Awareness, Road Accident Prevention, Victims and Families Assistance, Partnerships And Coalitions Locally And Globally, Fund Raising For Road Safety Campaigns, Victim Support And Public Interest Litigation. We say this because we know that every year more than 1.17 million people die in road crashes around the world. The majority of these deaths, about
70 percent occur in developing countries, like Nigeria. Over 10 million are injured or permanently impaired every year. It has been estimated that at least 6 million more will die and 60 million will be injured during the next 10 years in developing countries unless urgent action is taken. The Global Burden of Disease study undertaken by the World Health Organisation (WHO), Harvard University and the World Bank showed that in the1990s, traffic crashes were assessed to be the world's ninth most important health problem. The study forecasts that by the year 2020, road crashes would move up to third place in the table of leading causes of death and disability facing the world. In Nigeria, road crashes is the leading cause of the deaths of youths between the ages of 16 and 29 years. A nexus between road crashes between poverty, deprivation and under development has been established. The Federal Road Safety Commission Half Year Performance Report, 2014 concluded that 5,255 road crashes were recorded during the period. During these crashes, 15,587 persons were injured, 3,254 persons were killed and billions naira worth of property destroyed. The economic cost of road crashes are even more disturbing. It is believed that road crashes cost approximately 1 to 3 percent of a country's annual Gross National Product (GNP). These are resources that no country can afford to lose, especially those with developing economies such as Nigeria. It is estimated that developing countries currently lose in the region of $100 billion every year. This is almost twice as much as the total development assistance received worldwide by the developing countries. These losses undoubtedly inhibit the economic and social development of developing countries. Giving the above scenario, it is accepted that improving road safety requires the participation of many different organizations and sectors. No one sector working alone can effectively reduce the number of road casualties. This reason led to the emergence of this organization. Road Traffic Accident Victims Assistance & Emergency Relief Trust is a non profit and non governmental organization registered with the Corporate Affairs, Abuja,Nigeria to work towards addressing and reducing the unacceptable high number of road accident deaths through rapid emergency care for injured victims, policy advocacy and research and public interest legal intervention. We invite you to join us as partners as volunteers and funders as accident prevention and relief for vicrtims is everybody's business.
