Increasing the Seat Belt Use in Georgia

project “Increasing the Seat Belt Use in Georgia”, which  started in 2007 and was funded by USAID, BP, the FIA Foundation  for Automobile and Society and Toyota Caucasus. In 2010, through building effective coalitions between public and private actors, the project contributed to establishing legislation that makes the use of seat belts mandatory in the front seat of all vehicles in Georgia. These efforts have contributed to a measurable reduction in road fatalities and impressive increases in the use of seat belts and other protections.

 In  2009, on  the  basis of the  project  funded  by FIA Foundation,  PfRS has launched  the  “Georgia Alliance for Safe Roads” project. It has raised additional resources for seat belt campaigning from local sources and the following partners: USAID, BP Georgia, and the Ministry of Education, and the kind support of the Georgian Automobile  Federation,  “Auto Bild Georgia” magazine, Auto Radio, EASST, etc.

 In June 2011, as a result of a new law, 98% of drivers and 97% of front passengers on the highways were recorded using seat belts. In the capital city Tbilisi, the figure rose to 95% compared to just 1% previously. This has contributed to the decline of fatalities in Georgia from 867 in 2008 to 526 in 2011 (official data – provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia).

 http://www.myvideo.ge/?video_id=884874