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Changed from a car to a bicycle: global road safety week has started

The Global Road Safety Week, announced by the United Nations, will be held worldwide from May 12 to 18. It aims to raise awareness and step up action to reduce the number of deaths and injuries on the roads and provides an opportunity to take concrete measures to step up action to improve the safety of pedestrians and cyclists, the most vulnerable road users.

In Kazakhstan, the campaign was supported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the WHO Country Office in Kazakhstan, the independent public foundation for safe urban mobility Vision Zero Community, the Almaty Air Initiative Foundation, Sergek Group and InDrive companies.

"In 2024, more than 30,000 road accidents occurred in our country, which is almost twice as many as in 2023. More than 2.5 thousand people died in them. Unfortunately, this is our sad statistic. Therefore, only by drawing public attention to injuries in road accidents and raising this topic will we teach people to behave consciously on the roads and take care of their health," says Yerkanat Zaitov, head of the Vision Zero Community Foundation.

According to Asset Akhmetov, co-founder of Sergek Group, the company was happy to support the UN initiative.: "We have been working in the areas of safety, transport and ecology for many years. Therefore, we know firsthand how traumatic driving can be. During the week, we will try to abandon personal cars in favor of public or micro-mobile transport in order to use our own example to show the importance of the campaign and show social responsibility. It won't be too difficult for me, because I often walk to work anyway."

Aray Bekembayev, country manager of InDrive in Kazakhstan, said that the company will participate in the campaign through its employees.: 

“More than a thousand people work in the Almaty and Astana offices of our company. During the Global Road Safety Week, we will encourage them to switch from personal vehicles to more environmentally friendly options such as bicycles and scooters, and if it is possible to get there on foot, it would be great,” said Aray Bekembayev.  

Environmental experts also note the positive impact of the global road Safety Week on the ecological state of cities.

"Automobile emissions are one of the causes of air pollution in Almaty. Emissions are especially dangerous because they accumulate in the surface air layer, just in the human breathing zone. Therefore, by giving up a personal car in favor of hiking, cycling or scooters, Almaty residents will contribute not only to road safety, but also to clean air," said Zhuldyz Saulebekova, Executive Director of the Almaty Air Initiative Foundation.

It is worth noting that the transition to safe and sustainable mobility directly and indirectly contributes to the achievement of many sustainable development Goals, including in the areas of health, ecology, inclusivity and a sustainable urban environment.

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