Road safety is a constant concern in Mexico, where traffic accidents claim lives on a daily basis. In an effort to combat this problem, the Aleatica Foundation for Road Safety in collaboration with the governments of Tlaxcala, Puebla and Veracruz has launched the Second Open Road Safety Training Days. This event, which took place at Hacienda Soltepec, brought together more than 190 elements of the National Guard, police, security and transit corporations from the three states, offering two days of intensive training.
The training aims to provide participants with practical tools to reduce deaths and injuries resulting from traffic incidents. Antonio Lorenzo, Aleatica’s Global Safety Director, stressed the importance of fostering a safety culture that ensures compliance with regulations in all concessions.
Alarming Data and the Response
In Mexico, the situation is alarming: 43 people die every day due to road accidents, placing the country in a critical position in Latin America. The training provided by the Aleatica Foundation focuses on improving response and care after a road incident to reduce the consequences of injuries and increase survival rates.
The number of road-related deaths in 2022 in Puebla, Tlaxcala and Veracruz was 929, a toll that reflects the urgency of this initiative. The Global Road Safety Report 2023 highlights that, worldwide, road crashes are the leading cause of death among children and young people aged 5 to 29, with approximately 1.19 million people killed annually for this reason.
An Internationally Recognized Approach
The training methodology is based on the United Nations Safe System Approach, which aims to reduce road traffic incidents by half by 2030. This approach understands the error-prone nature of humans and seeks to protect road users through safe infrastructures, reliable vehicles and adequate training of first responders.
Achievements and Future Objectives
Jaime Varela, Director of the Libramiento Elevado de Puebla, a 15-kilometer roadway that has improved mobility in the state of Puebla, shared a significant achievement: more than 1,500 days without traffic incidents on his roadway. In addition, the initiative promotes social cohesion and trust between citizens and public safety institutions, underlining the importance of an effective response to accidents.
The participants in the day’s course are taught by experts on a range of topics, from mobility and road safety to special users and the driving of official vehicles. At the end of the course, they receive a DC-3 Labor Competency Certificate, strengthening their preparation to face and prevent road incidents.
This joint effort between the Aleatica Foundation and the governments of Tlaxcala, Puebla and Veracruz highlights the importance of training and prevention in the fight against road accidents, with the ultimate goal of saving lives and contributing to achieve the United Nations goal of reducing road-related fatalities and injuries on urban roads and highways by 50% by 2030.
Because Road Safety We Are All.
