President of the Fiji Motorcyclists Association,
Chief Executive Officer, Land Transport Authority,
Chief Executive Officer, Accident Compassion Commission of Fiji,
Director Traffic, Fiji Police Force,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Bula Vinaka and a very Good Morning to you all.
It is a pleasure to be here this morning, to be part of this platform to advocate Road Safety.
The event is to remember those members of the Fiji Motorcyclists Association (FMA), who have lost their lives or have been injured, whilst doing what they loved – riding a bike.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The FMA started as but a dream shared by a small group of like-minded riders around 10 years ago. The President, Rodney and I are two of the original 12 riders that made this group. In 2013, we starting planning the establishment and the first bike show, which was held in 2015, at the Damodar City.
And this led to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) recognising motorcyclists as equal road users. A Road Code was published by the LTA.
According to LTA, there are 858 registered motorcycles in Fiji, about 20 percent of which are registered to the Fiji Police Force. This is 0.7% percent of registered vehicles on the road.
Though motorcycles make a very small number on the roads, they have the same rights to access the roads, as other vehicles do. At the same time the riders should be equally responsible as a driver when on the road.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
According to the UN, an estimated 1.3 million people die each year from road fatalities and further 10 million are injured as a result of road accidents. And the World Health Organisation states, that globally more than half of all road deaths are of the vulnerable road users, which includes, pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists.
In a global recognition of road safety concerns, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2010, declared 2011-2020 as the Decade of Action for Road Safety Worldwide.
The Fijian Government, in 2011, launched the Fiji Decade of Action for Road Safety (FDAR), amidst growing concerns of the growing numbers of road fatalities. On average, from 2009-2018, approximately 55 people per year have lost their lives, most of them were young people.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The FMA has experienced the sorrow of 7 fatalities and 10 serious life changing injuries. Therefore, it is vital that people be “educated” on how to use the road — whether as pedestrian, as motorists, cyclists, passengers or generally a road user.
It is our target is to reduce the fatalities from the current level of 8 per 10,000 vehicles to less than 4 per 10,000 vehicles by the year 2020, and to reduce accident numbers by 5 percent annually.
Since the launch of FDARS, we have recorded the lowest number of road accidents in the period in 2012 to 2014. This coincides with Fiji’s lowest road fatalities of average 4.86 fatalities per 10,000 vehicles for the same period.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Whilst we managed the reductions, we want to reduce it further. This requires combined efforts from the Government and the people.
The five common causes of fatalities on our roads are speeding, drink drive, driver fatigue, pedestrian at fault and dangerous driving.
Users of the road need to follow the basic rules, be mindful and alert of other users on the road.
We must, together, strive to make our roads safer for us and our future generations.
We must also show appreciation to all the transport agencies for the effort toward road safety and creation of awareness. Our special appreciation also goes out to all our Police Officers and Enforcement Officers standing on our Fiji roads 24/7 preventing accidents or fatalities from happening.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I speak not only as the Minister responsible for transport but also as a founding member of the FMA. The Association has taken upon itself to ensure safety of all members.
For our safety, we wear approved and recognised standard helmets, which is a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 218, Motorcycle Helmets. The Department of Transport and the Department of National Trade Measurement and Standards will work together to have this as the minimum acceptable standard for helmets in Fiji.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I want to congratulate the FMA for joining hands to create awareness on road safety. And, I thank everyone here today for joining FMA’s efforts to not only remember our friends but to educate you.
I look forward to a successful event and wish you all well in making our roads safe.
Thank you