December 15, 2022
Alejandro Draper is president of the National Road Safety Unit (Unasev), an agency of the Government of Uruguay dedicated to road safety and the determination of traffic regulations on a national scale.
The entity is immersed in the upcoming implementation of the national driving permit for points, a credit of confidence that society grants to drivers who respect the rules of coexistence, as Draper recently highlighted at the launch of the XV National Week of Road Safety, which was carried out with various activities throughout the country under the slogan “Points for life”.
Within this framework, a session was organized with the head of the Spanish DGT, Pere Navarro, who by videoconference recounted the experience of implementing the point-based license in our country, emphasizing that the model seeks to alert drivers about their responsibility behind the wheel: “You, citizen driver, will have your points. You manage them and it is up to you to be able to circulate because if you lose them you have to spend time off the road. You, citizen, manage your points“.
His Uruguayan counterpart, Alejandro Draper, offers us some clues about the implementation of the system in his country.
– They are in the process of implementing the point-based driving license. How receptive is there in your country?
The reception has been very good. We are working with the Congress of Mayors that brings together the wills of the 19 departments that Uruguay has, and on our side as a Road Safety agency with the support of the Ministry of Transportation we carry out the agenda of the National Executive Branch.
– It has been operating in Spain since 2006 and the overall experience has been positive. Do you know the Spanish experience?
Yes of course. In addition to having exchanged on different occasions with the General Director of Traffic, we have recently been visiting your country to learn in depth about the Spanish experience in order to learn and share their experience.
– What is the planned implementation schedule?
The idea is to leave the Decree completed as soon as possible and to begin its application, granting deadlines according to the importance of each one of the issues.
– What is the situation of road safety in Uruguay?
In the past decade of action, the upward trend in the accident rate was reversed, achieving in 2020 the lowest accident rate in the country’s history. And by 2022, it is possible to keep the figures static, seeking to achieve significant decreases again, aiming at the new decade through the joint implementation of the permit by points and electronic speed control throughout the country.
– Is the accident rate at similar levels to neighboring countries?
The accident rate in Uruguay is one of the lowest on the continent.
– Once this license by points has been implemented, what immediate challenges does the National Road Safety Unit face?
That of a systematic and sustained improvement in intelligent computer systems that allow a strict and real-time control of infractions and the consequent application of sanctions to prevent them from continuing to occur.