{"id":1376,"date":"2014-02-03T23:00:48","date_gmt":"2014-02-03T22:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/?p=1376"},"modified":"2014-02-03T23:00:48","modified_gmt":"2014-02-03T22:00:48","slug":"proactive-rather-than-the-hindenburg-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2014\/02\/03\/proactive-rather-than-the-hindenburg-response\/","title":{"rendered":"Proactive rather than &#8216;The Hindenburg&#8217; response"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I had a conversation recently with a colleague who is a tireless worker in the safety of pedestrians, and his comment regarding policy response resonated with me so much that I thought I would share it with you. He likened policy response to road safety to the Hindenburg Disaster of 1937 (see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.airships.net\/hindenburge\/disaster\">www.airships.net\/hindenburge\/disaster<\/a> for more information), such that improvements in safety only occur after tragic, highly-visible critical events. This policy response, which certainly is an important one, is frequently characterised by \u2018too little, too late\u2019. My colleague found this particularly frustrating when policy based in sound risk assessments and a plethora of evidence-based research can prevent &#8211; or at least minimise &#8211; the damage from catastrophe in the first place.<\/p>\n<p>Whilst myself and my colleague are lucky enough to live, work, and indeed use the road environment in a developed country, evidence-based policy and practical responses are never more urgently needed than now in developing countries. The plight of these countries was highlighted in a recent <i>The Economist<\/i> article (read more at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.economist.com\/news\/international\/21595031-rich-countries-have-cut-deaths-and-injuries-caused-crashes-toll-growing\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.economist.com\/news\/international\/21595031-rich-countries-have-cut-deaths-and-injuries-caused-crashes-toll-growing<\/a>). What we in \u2018rich countries\u2019 refer to as <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">vulnerable<\/span> road users such as pedestrians and motor and pedal cyclists are never more vulnerable than when using the road networks of the developing world.<\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, cost cannot be the only obstacle, with <i>The Economist<\/i> article stating that<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<i>iRAP has helped to build fences to separate pedestrians from traffic in Bangladesh, at a cost of just $135 to avert a death or serious injury; and installed rumble strips on hard shoulders in Mexico to alert drivers when they are veering from their lane ($920). Telling people about safety laws\u2014and then making those laws stick\u2014can be surprisingly affordable and effective, too. The share of people wearing seat belts in Ivanovo, Russia, rose from 48% in 2011 to 74% in 2012, after a police crackdown and social-media campaign partly paid for by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the foundation of Michael Bloomberg, New York\u2019s former mayor and one of the few big aid donors to spend heavily on road safety.<\/i><i> <\/i><i>Dan Chisholm of the WHO calculates that enforcing speed limits and drunk-driving laws in South-East Asia would cost just 18 cents per person per year.\u201d <\/i><\/p>\n<p>I would argue that a part of our role as injury prevention practitioners, professionals and researchers in \u2018rich countries\u2019 is to help in the journey to identify, then remove or ameliorate, obstacles to developing nations maximising the benefits of our knowledge and experiences.<!--TrendMD v2.4.8--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I had a conversation recently with a colleague who is a tireless worker in the safety of pedestrians, and his comment regarding policy response resonated with me so much that I thought I would share it with you. He likened policy response to road safety to the Hindenburg Disaster of 1937 (see www.airships.net\/hindenburge\/disaster for more [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2014\/02\/03\/proactive-rather-than-the-hindenburg-response\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2738,13344,2729,2730,1574,2632,2724],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advocacy","category-bicycle-safety","category-developing-countries","category-motor-vehicle-crashes","category-offbeat","category-policy-making","category-splinters-fragments"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Proactive rather than &#039;The Hindenburg&#039; response - Injury Prevention: Editor&#039;s Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2014\/02\/03\/proactive-rather-than-the-hindenburg-response\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Proactive rather than &#039;The Hindenburg&#039; response - Injury Prevention: Editor&#039;s Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I had a conversation recently with a colleague who is a tireless worker in the safety of pedestrians, and his comment regarding policy response resonated with me so much that I thought I would share it with you. He likened policy response to road safety to the Hindenburg Disaster of 1937 (see www.airships.net\/hindenburge\/disaster for more [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2014\/02\/03\/proactive-rather-than-the-hindenburg-response\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Injury Prevention: Editor&#039;s Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-02-03T22:00:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"BMJ\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"BMJ\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/2014\\\/02\\\/03\\\/proactive-rather-than-the-hindenburg-response\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/2014\\\/02\\\/03\\\/proactive-rather-than-the-hindenburg-response\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"BMJ\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe\"},\"headline\":\"Proactive rather than &#8216;The Hindenburg&#8217; response\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-02-03T22:00:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/2014\\\/02\\\/03\\\/proactive-rather-than-the-hindenburg-response\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":415,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Advocacy\",\"Bicycle Safety\",\"Developing countries\",\"Motor vehicle crashes\",\"Offbeat\",\"Policy\",\"Splinters &amp; Fragments\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/2014\\\/02\\\/03\\\/proactive-rather-than-the-hindenburg-response\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/2014\\\/02\\\/03\\\/proactive-rather-than-the-hindenburg-response\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/2014\\\/02\\\/03\\\/proactive-rather-than-the-hindenburg-response\\\/\",\"name\":\"Proactive rather than 'The Hindenburg' response - Injury Prevention: Editor&#039;s Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-02-03T22:00:48+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/2014\\\/02\\\/03\\\/proactive-rather-than-the-hindenburg-response\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/2014\\\/02\\\/03\\\/proactive-rather-than-the-hindenburg-response\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/2014\\\/02\\\/03\\\/proactive-rather-than-the-hindenburg-response\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Proactive rather than &#8216;The Hindenburg&#8217; response\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/\",\"name\":\"Injury Prevention: Editor&#039;s Blog\",\"description\":\"The official blog for the journal Injury Prevention.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Injury Prevention: Editor&#039;s Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/files\\\/2017\\\/10\\\/blog-logo-injury-prevention.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/files\\\/2017\\\/10\\\/blog-logo-injury-prevention.png\",\"width\":270,\"height\":34,\"caption\":\"Injury Prevention: Editor&#039;s Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe\",\"name\":\"BMJ\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"BMJ\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Proactive rather than 'The Hindenburg' response - Injury Prevention: Editor&#039;s Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2014\/02\/03\/proactive-rather-than-the-hindenburg-response\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Proactive rather than 'The Hindenburg' response - Injury Prevention: Editor&#039;s Blog","og_description":"I had a conversation recently with a colleague who is a tireless worker in the safety of pedestrians, and his comment regarding policy response resonated with me so much that I thought I would share it with you. He likened policy response to road safety to the Hindenburg Disaster of 1937 (see www.airships.net\/hindenburge\/disaster for more [...]Read More...","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2014\/02\/03\/proactive-rather-than-the-hindenburg-response\/","og_site_name":"Injury Prevention: Editor&#039;s Blog","article_published_time":"2014-02-03T22:00:48+00:00","author":"BMJ","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"BMJ","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2014\/02\/03\/proactive-rather-than-the-hindenburg-response\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2014\/02\/03\/proactive-rather-than-the-hindenburg-response\/"},"author":{"name":"BMJ","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/#\/schema\/person\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe"},"headline":"Proactive rather than &#8216;The Hindenburg&#8217; response","datePublished":"2014-02-03T22:00:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2014\/02\/03\/proactive-rather-than-the-hindenburg-response\/"},"wordCount":415,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Advocacy","Bicycle Safety","Developing countries","Motor vehicle crashes","Offbeat","Policy","Splinters &amp; Fragments"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2014\/02\/03\/proactive-rather-than-the-hindenburg-response\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2014\/02\/03\/proactive-rather-than-the-hindenburg-response\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2014\/02\/03\/proactive-rather-than-the-hindenburg-response\/","name":"Proactive rather than 'The Hindenburg' response - Injury Prevention: Editor&#039;s Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-02-03T22:00:48+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2014\/02\/03\/proactive-rather-than-the-hindenburg-response\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2014\/02\/03\/proactive-rather-than-the-hindenburg-response\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2014\/02\/03\/proactive-rather-than-the-hindenburg-response\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Proactive rather than &#8216;The Hindenburg&#8217; response"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/","name":"Injury Prevention: Editor&#039;s Blog","description":"The official blog for the journal Injury Prevention.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/#organization","name":"Injury Prevention: Editor&#039;s Blog","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/files\/2017\/10\/blog-logo-injury-prevention.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/files\/2017\/10\/blog-logo-injury-prevention.png","width":270,"height":34,"caption":"Injury Prevention: Editor&#039;s Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/#\/schema\/person\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe","name":"BMJ","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"BMJ"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1376\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}