We live in a hectic time, an era of constant race against hours, minutes and seconds. We try to achieve what cannot be achieved. We are in a hurry because we don’t have time. It is the rush that, according to a survey by the Czech Insurance Association, is the main reason why drivers exceed the speed limit. Nine out of ten drivers admit to breaking the speed limit and 43% of drivers speed because they are running late. Over the last ten years, drivers driving at an unreasonable speed caused a total of 134,891 traffic accidents. Almost half of them, i.e. 51,488, ended up with consequences.
The National Day Without Rush follows on from the successful 13 MINUTES project. The aim is to encourage the public to think about the dangers of excessive speed and haste behind the wheel. This is a call to all drivers to slow down and think about whether they really need to risk their health and the health of others to rush.
All of this is pointed out not only by the manifesto of the National No-Hurry Day, but also by a video with well-known personalities, athletes and rescue workers, which was created on this occasion. In it you can see, for example, director Vít Klusák, actors Petr Uhlík and Jan Hájek, actresses Ester Geislerová and Klára Issová or doctor Marko Dvořák.
“On this particular day, we give people a little more time to slow down and realize that not everything is an emergency and that it is often better to be somewhere a few minutes late than not to get there at all,” explains Jan Matoušek, executive director of the Czech Insurance Association. which was behind the birth of the initiative. The Czech Republic already slowed down last year. “The interest of the public has convinced us that it makes sense to continue this activity, which is why this year we also approached other corporate partners who can further spread this idea among their employees and customers.”
Just like last year, the Football Association of the Czech Republic became the main partner of the event this year, which will postpone its main event during the national football cup. Specifically, the kick-off of the MOL Cup semi-final between Opava and Sparta will be delayed in the live broadcast on ČT Sport.
“Thanks to the symbolic delayed kick-off of the MOL Cup semi-final, not only the fans, but also those of us involved in football, can realize that we ourselves sometimes take unnecessary risks due to haste. I will be happy if this initiative contributes to changing the warning statistics of accidents and consequences. That’s why the football association didn’t hesitate for the second time in a row and naturally agrees to the project,” FAČR chairman Petr Fousek says about the participation.
In addition to Czech Television, the media support of the project has also been promised by Evropa 2, Frekvense 1 and Bonton, who will move the broadcast time of selected programs. Cultural institutions such as the theater Cirk La Putyka, Aerofilms, JATKA 78 or the National Theater will also be involved, which will delay its ballet performance called bpm on April 3. The game deals with the pace and beat of the human heart.
VŠKK, part of VŠE and FSE UJEP will also participate. Some companies, such as BMW, MOL, DPD, Rekola, Vodafone, Rohlik.cz or Intersnack, will also point out unnecessary haste in their communications. For example, MOL will have a special MOL MOVE event as part of the cooperation program, motivating drivers to safely stop and rest at gas stations to avoid dangerous driving. Insurance companies NN Životní pojišťovna, Allianz and Generali Česká pojišťovna will also join. The project will also support components of the integrated rescue system, including the Police of the Czech Republic.
The initiative will also be symbolically supported by the Prague Astronomical Clock on the Old Town Square in Prague. One of the world’s most famous clocks will join on Wednesday 4/3 at 10:00 a.m. Every full hour, a procession of the apostles takes place on the clock, i.e. the figures of the twelve apostles appearing in the window. This
the mechanism will be symbolically suspended and the death knell will strike 138 times for every life lost last year while speeding.
