Last year, the World Bank cataloged the road insecurity as another of the pandemics that is affecting Latin America. And is not for less. In Colombia alone, the National Road Safety Observatory (ONSV) reported in 2021 more than 7,200 deaths from traffic accidents, of which 59 percent were motorcycle users. How to put the brakes on these alarming figures? The National Road Safety Agency (ANSV) is implementing the Safe System approach, a scheme recognized by international organizations that seeks to avoid human errors on the roads.
Luis Lota, director of the ANSV, assures that “road safety must be comprehensive and understood from the co-responsibility of all the actors on the road, such as local authorities, companies, industrycyclists, motorcyclists and even pedestrians… Everyone must demand and be aware of their rights and duties on the road”. For this reason, a new National Road Safety Plan 2022-2031which has as its protagonist the Safe System to reduce deaths and injuries caused by traffic accidents by at least 50 percent by 2030.
This scheme has four key pillars to promote road safety:
safe speeds
According to the ONSV, between 2019 and 2020 1,064 deaths were recorded in road accidents due to speeding. For this reason, the ANSV seeks to control speed as the main road risk factor. “One of the strategies is check the critical points of the roads together with city halls and local authorities to install and optimize road checkpoints”, mentions Lota.
safe vehicles
The ANSV advances efforts so that Colombia has safer vehicles. That is why it is defining a technical regulation that must comply with new cars entering the market. The goal is for these vehicles to meet the established standards regarding seat belts, glazing, reflective tape, use of tires and brakes, and vehicle containment. “In addition, we are working on two fronts that were not previously included in the standard: motorcycle tires and brakes. Our goal is to end the government with a ready technical regulation for these components”, says Lotta.
Another step was to file before Congress a bill to approve Colombia’s accession to the 1958 UN Agreement, in which vehicle standards are established to guarantee a high level of safety. If approved, Colombia would be the first country in Latin America to belong to these agreements.
But while the plans are finalized, from 2020 all vehicle dealers must inform the buyer about the existence or absence of safety elements, such as the anti-lock braking system, the electronic stability control, the frontal collision alert, the vehicle restraint and system airbag. In the case of motorcycles, they must include the automatic lighting system and the anti-lock brake system.
The director of the ANSV affirms that it is not just about buying a vehicle, but also about ensure their safety and health.
secure infrastructure
One of the action plans is to carry out inspections and verification visits in order to improve road safety conditions in the country. For this, joint work is carried out with the ANI, Invías and local and national authorities.
This pillar of the Safe System also includes the use of photodetection and the implementation of life-saving cameras. In this sense, a total of 541 life-saving cameras have been approved throughout the country, of which 13 percent were installed in educational institutions and places with a high concentration of pedestrians, where speeds greater than 30 kilometers per hour are violated. The director of the ANSV adds that “the specific goal is for people to know where the cameras are so they can slow down”.
safe behavior
The scheme also focuses on promote road safety knowledge and practices in road actors through programs such as BiciDestrezas, MotoDestrezas, Ruta Nacional por la Seguridad Vial and Acciones en Vía. Likewise, Colombians have the possibility of accessing the Virtual School of Road Safety, which integrates nearly 200 educational resources to apply in educational institutions, groups and companies. Other initiatives are also being carried out, such as the School Mobility Plan, which seeks to ensure that people know from an early age how they should behave on the roads, and Road Safety Takes Your…, a strategy to bring together schools, companies and regions.
The National Road Safety Plan 2022-2031 includes comprehensive care for victims through the implementation of the PAS Protocol (protect, warn and help), in which 4,300 million pesos have been invested to train first responders.
*Content prepared with the support of the National Road Safety Agency.
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