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The tragic death of 17-year-old IC stu-
dent, Tatal Kassem, last year has spurred
a mini campaign among parents who are
preparing to ask for the implementation
of a road safety program in IC’s curricu-
lum. Talal was run over by a speeding car
as he was making his way to school.
“The Parents’ Committee would like to
see a road safety program implemented
in the curricula especially at the elemen-
tary and middle school levels before they
begin to drive,” said Lina Assaf, President
of the Parents’ Committee.
At the moment, the committee is prepar-
ing to hold a lecture for middle school
students during their advisory hour.
However, according to Samar Abouraad
Kanaan, a senior expert in road safety
at the Global Road Safety Partnership,
who travels to the Middle East advis-
ing governments on ways to implement
road safety issues and IC mother of two
children, “road safety” should become a
theme which is taught from preschool
until graduation.
“It has been proven that talks and scary tac-
tics don’t work with young people,” she said.
“Only a program to mold children from the
beginning is proving to be effective.”
Death from car accidents is the number
one killer of young people in Lebanon.
According to Kunhadi, there were 10,000
car crashes in 2010 alone, with more
than 500 fatalities and 8,000 injuries.The
leading cause of crashes are young adults
between the ages of 15-29 and 85% of
accidents are the result of reckless driv-
ing, followed by speeding, drunk driving,
fatigue, and the use of mobile phones.
Statistics from the Traffic Control Center
for Greater Beirut show that almost 33%
of fatalities are pedestrians.
Disturbingly, Lebanon is almost doubling
its number of fatalities every year, “be-
coming among the worst in the region,”
said Kanaan. “The Middle East has the
highest number of fatalities per thousand
population in the world.”
And yet, many fatalities or injuries could
have been avoided. Ignorance in road
safety is a major concern in the country.
“How many people sit in the car without
seatbelts in the front and in the backseats?
How many people just cross without
looking out for cars or don’t even make it
to the police manned cross points?” she
said. “Pedestrians have responsibilities
too.They should be made aware of the
dangers of the road.”
True to Kanaan’s words, despite the IC
guards who are stopping traffic on both
ways of the road to allow children to cross
to the elementary school buildings at
Raouche, many pedestrians with students
in tow continue to cross between the cars.
To be truly effective, of course, road safety
should ideally be part of a national strate-
gy where laws are strictly enforced. Sadly,
laws are rarely enforced in Lebanon.
On May 10, 2010, the United Nations
passed a resolution declaring the period
of 2011–2020 as the ‘Decade of Action
for Road Safety’ to “stabilize then reduce
the forecast level of road traffic fatalities
around the world by 2020.”
The resolution was signed by 100 coun-
tries. Former Minister of Interior, Ziad
Baroud, pledged last year to work on
reducing the fatalities and injuries on the
road during this decade.
“We are committed to raising awareness
about road safety and we already do a lot
in our programs,” said Mishka Mourani,
IC’s Senior Vice President. “We are open
to seeing any curriculum material that
people are proposing. We certainly feel it’s
a priority.”
IC begins raising awareness at all levels
among its students, beginning at pre-
school when children are familiarized
with road signs. A Kunhadi representative
comes on campus every year to talk to
graduating students about the dangers of
the road, especially after prom night.
“If IC incorporates a permanent program
in its curriculum then other schools will
follow suit,” continued Kanaan. “IC has
always been a leader in education.The
facts are that countries that have reduced
fatalities on the road are those who have
incorporated the program into their
school curriculum.”
Road Safety as part of IC’s Curriculum?
SPRING
2012
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