#SaveKidsLives at #EverySchool - Standing in solidarity with the children of New York

June 13, 2016 by Child Health Initiative

Categories: Road Safety, #SaveKidsLives

On the steps of New York’s City Hall, the FIA Foundation’s Natalie Draisin spoke about global road safety.

On June 9, hundreds of students, parents, advocates, and policymakers gathered on the steps of City Hall in New York, to ask New York’s capital to pass legislation that would make school zones safer.

Their demand for safe routes to school for children is echoed all over the world. Globally, over one million children – about the number of schoolchildren in New York City - miss out on an education each year, because they are killed or injured on the roads. That is the population that the new Global Initiative for Child Health and Mobility, and the #SaveKidsLives campaign, is particularly focused on working to protect.

In New York City, Transportation Alternatives has been instrumental in in protecting the city’s children, and made New York City a leader in safe transportation. The organization has successfully advocated for complete streets with parking-protected bike lanes, public plazas, neighborhood slow zones, and lower speed limits to achieve Vision Zero in New York City.

Now, it is collaborating with its victim group, Families for Safer Streets, to protect every child in New York City through speed management legislation. Standing beside his young daughter, the Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives, Paul Steely-White, said “Speed kills more kids in New York City than anything else.”

Natalie Draisin, US Manager of the FIA Foundation (in main photo above with New York City Public Advocate Letitia James), thanked the children for inspiring others, all over the world, to engage in the fight for safe school zones. “Schools are the heartbeat of the community – and that’s why safe routes to school protect not just our kids, but also our communities. At the #SaveKidsLives campaign, launched by the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration, we recognize that speed management is an opportunity to keep every child safe, at #EverySchool. We stand here with you today in solidarity.” she said. Speed management is the first component of the five-part action agenda of the #SaveKidsLives campaign.

The Global Initiative for Child Health and Mobility, and the #SaveKidsLives campaign, commend Transportation Alternatives, Families for Safe Streets, and the #EverySchool campaign on setting an example for coalitions to engage in lifesaving efforts.