Mexico City, November 14 2023.- At Intertraffic Mexico, the leading mobility event in Latin America, taking place at the Citibanamex Centre in Mexico City from 14-16 November, German Sánchez Galván, Aleatica’s Global Road Safety Coordinator, spoke in his presentation Safer Roads in Latin America about the critical challenges facing the region in this area and called for action to address these problems in a comprehensive manner.
During his intervention in the panel “Rethinking Road Safety“, in which he participated together with Sofía Margarita Provencio, Coordinator of Advisors of the Mobility Commission of the Mexican Chamber of Deputies; Constanza Deleón, Director of Road Safety and Information Monitoring of the Secretariat of Mobility (SEMOVI) of Mexico City and Patricio Sepúlveda, advisor to Manufacturas Carmen, said that road safety in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) presents alarming figures, with road accidents representing between 3% and 5% of the region’s GDP annually.
Sánchez Galván said that this problem has a significant impact on mobility, life, and economic development in Latin America, especially affecting people in their most productive age.
“With around 110,000 fatalities and more than 5 million injuries recorded annually, road crashes are the leading cause of death for children and the second leading cause of death for young adults aged 15-34 in the region,” said Aleatica’s Road Safety Coordinator.
Despite recent investments in infrastructure, high fatality rates persist, making road crashes an urgent concern. International organisations, including the World Health Organisation and the IDB, recognise the need to address this problem urgently.
Proposal for Action
Germán Sánchez stressed that, although human error is identified as the main cause of accidents, education and training are not the only solution. Experience indicates that there is a need to shift from an accident prevention approach to a fatality and serious injury prevention approach.
The “forgiving road” concept emerges as a key solution, focusing on infrastructures that minimise the serious consequences of crashes. This involves implementing vehicle restraint systems, speed management, and improving emergency medical response.
Aleatica’s commitment
Aleatica, as a leader in concessioned infrastructure management in Latin America in Peru, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico, has learned valuable lessons in its commitment to road safety.
Through its “SAFETY FIRST” approach, the company seeks to reduce accident rates on its concessions.
The Accident Reduction Programme (ARP), based on the safe system approach, is Aleatica’s comprehensive strategy that addresses key factors such as infrastructure, users, vehicles, and timely roadside assistance. With a long-term vision to reduce road accidents on its roads by 30% in the next 5 years, Aleatica focuses on improving the use of seat belts and helmets, especially among vulnerable road users.
To add to these efforts, the Aleatica Foundation has also implemented a training programme for motorcyclists, especially dedicated to the needs of these users, which already has more than 100 people trained in 2023 alone.
Call to Action
The call to action is clear: road safety is a shared and achievable responsibility. It calls for collaboration, the implementation of proactive measures and the adoption of a safe system approach to make roads safer and more accessible for all. Road safety in Latin America requires concerted action at political, social and economic levels, with coordinated efforts between governments, companies, civil society organisations and academia.
“With leadership, education, enforcement and improvements in infrastructure, vehicles and post-crash management, we can move towards a future where the region’s roads are safe for all,” said Sánchez Galván.
It is important to note that, in addition to Germán Sánchez Galván’s presentation, the Aleatica Foundation will present a stand during the three days of the event where it will have an immersive experience on driving, exemplifying how technology can also be at the service of road safety, using the oculus as an educational tool.
Also, during the first day of Intertraffic, Prof. Dr. Francisco Alonso, Director of the Institute for Traffic and Road Safety Research (INTRAS) of the University of Valencia, Spain, and member of the Advisory Committee of Fundación Aleatica, will participate in a dialogue with Salomón Chertorivsky, President of the Mobility Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, where they will discuss the lessons learned to rethink mobility.
