UN Decade of Action to focus on road safety at T2013

The UN Decade of Action for Road Safety will be in force in Brisbane this August, with the leading experts on drugs and alcohol in road safety converging on the city to tackle one of public health’s most intractable problems as part of the 20th International Conference on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety (T2013).

T2013 conference chair and CARRS‐Q director Prof Barry Watson said, despite illegal blood alcohol concentration limits being in place for over 25 years and the dangers of drug driving becoming increasingly recognised, impaired driving remains one of the major causes of death and injury on our roads.

“2011 saw the commencement of the UN Decade of Action, a worldwide initiative bringing together over 70 countries in a united effort to reduce traffic crashes and the global road toll.

“T2013 will bring the Decade of Action to Brisbane in a very dynamic way, with over 400 leading alcohol, drugs and traffic safety experts meeting to discuss the latest in international programs, policy and development in impaired driving,” Prof Watson said.

An update on worldwide developments, key geographic regions of emerging issues and at-risk populations will be provided by international keynote speakers including:

• Dr Ralph Hingson, past president, ICADTS, USA;
• Pablo Martinez Carignano, Road Safety general director of the Buenos Aires City Government;
• Dr Leilei Duan, director of the Injury Prevention Division, National Centre for Chronic and Noncommunicable Disease Control and Prevention, China CDC;
• Dr Kazuko Okamura, senior researcher, National Research Institute of Police Science, Japan; and
• Dr Wolf‐Rudiger Nickel, immediate past president, ICADTS, Europe.

“More than 90% of traffic crash deaths occur in low- and middle‐income countries, which have less than half of the world’s vehicles, thus they will be a major focus of conference talks,” Professor Watson said.

The conference’s recent call for abstracts attracted high numbers of abstracts for oral and poster presentation with interest particularly demonstrated in the areas of: epidemiology; legislation and enforcement; prevention and rehabilitation; detection, measurement, testing and forensics; prescription medications and illicit drugs; and challenges for low- and middle-income countries.

“The full conference program will be released on the conference website in April and will include presentations, workshops, symposia and discussion, as well as dedicated programs for young scientists, early career researchers, students and those from low- and middle-income countries,” Professor Watson said.

The following organisations have confirmed their sponsorship of T2013:

• Alcolizer (Platinum Sponsor);
• Institute for Health & Biomedical Innovation (Foundation Sponsor);
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (Foundation Sponsor);
• Securetech Detektions Systeme AG (Gold Sponsor);
• Alere (Silver Sponsor);
• Dräger (Silver Sponsor);
• Queensland Police Service (Silver Sponsor);
• Motor Accident Insurance Commission (Bronze Sponsor); and
• Suncorp Insurance (Bronze Sponsor).

T2013 will be held from 25‐28 August. Held triennially, the ICADTS Conference has achieved a longstanding and highly regarded reputation as the leading international meeting in the field of alcohol, drugs and traffic safety.

The event is expected to attract over 400 delegates from around Australia and overseas, drawn from the areas of traffic and transport psychology, public health, law, medicine, economics, law enforcement, public policy, education, pharmacology, toxicology, forensic science, human factors, and alcohol intervention and rehabilitation.

The Australasian Road Safety Research, Policing and Education Conference will immediately follow T2013 in the same Brisbane venue from 28‐30 August 2013.

“The consecutive forums will be critical activities of the UN Decade of Action and present exciting professional development opportunities for researchers, practitioners and policymakers,” added Prof Watson.

Online registration is now open, and further information on T2013 can be found on the website.