The tenth edition of the "Road Safety Guide" was released by the ANIA Foundation (National Association of Insurance Companies) in cooperation with VIASAT Group. The purpose of this initiative is to address the deadly road accidents that had caused the death of 3 385 people in Italy in 2013. Road accidents are the leading cause of death among people 15 and 35 years old, with a social and economic damage range 1-3% of GDP: in Italy it means approximately EUR 30 billion.

Based on a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) 1.24 million people worldwide have been killed in a car accident, in European Union there had been 27 724 casualties, which correspond to 55 per million inhabitants.

Since 2000 Italy has been devoting a strong emphasis on young people’s education and road accident prevention. The Ministry of Interior, in particular with the Department of Public Safety, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education had established two road safety related projects, the “Icarus Project” and the “Progress Project”.

The “Progress Project“ was an experimental education project on road safety. It aimed at helping primary school students to learn about road safety, to make good judgements in the traffic environment, to encourage a sense of individual and collective responsibility while relying on learners’ intrinsic motivation.

The project was implemented for two school years with excellent results in terms of satisfaction and participation.

“Icarus project “(acronym for Inter-Cultural Approaches for Road Users Safety) highlighted that the education for safe and conscious behaviour on the road and in the common spaces in general cannot be exhausted in a few training days, but it develops and consolidates throughout the school years. The project was introduced in April 2009 and it was managed by the State Police, the Ministry of Education and ANIA Foundation, with the collaboration of UNICEF. “Icarus” addresses mainly primary and secondary schools and provides spot campaigns and training initiatives for students. In the last two years, the training model implemented in Italy has initiated a scientific research on dangerous driving behaviour of young Europeans in order to identify prevention and control measures. The “ICARUS project” is gaining reputation in the Italian VET system; both in schools of the national educational system and vocational centres operating at local levels where more actions are developed on the subject. It is also promoted or coordinated by the Prefects, aimed at enhancing drivers’ responsibility and encouraging preventive and safety measures on the road. The increasing awareness on “road safety education” might build the pathway towards its inclusion into the key competence in the main field of active citizenship.

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