2023-06-28 04:01:37
Spain faces a major obstacle in terms of reducing road accidents. According to the ‘Balance of the last four years in road safety material in Spain’, which has been carried out at the Fundación Mapfre headquarters with data from the DGT, figures have returned to those of 2019. «It is bad news when The objective is to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries by 50% before 2030. And this despite great advances such as the recent road safety education law, the new urban limit of 30 km/h or the promotion of active modes of transport (walking and cycling)”, explains Jesus MonclúsDirector of Prevention and Road Safety at Fundación Mapfre.
«The evolution in countries around us in Europe in these four years has been quite uneven, with an increase of around 10% in the number of deaths in the safest countries in the world such as Norway or the Netherlands, although they continue to be the most insurance in terms of deaths per million inhabitants, barely unchanged in Italy or France, or slightly changed in Sweden, the UK and Portugal. The maximum reductions have been reached in Lithuania or Poland, around 35%, although they were countries with a clear room for improvement at the beginning of the period. Perhaps the best examples in these years (2019-2022) have been Denmark and Belgium, with reductions in the number of deaths of around 20%”, adds Monclús.
“But in no case can we throw in the towel, but we must ‘clench our teeth and pedal harder forward’: more than 13,000 people by 2030 would be sentenced to death if we maintain the current figures and around 68,000 would be condemned to suffer serious injuries or lifelong consequences if the situation does not improve. The truth is that we no longer know how to draw attention to the intensity of the necessary change. Accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Road Safety Strategy, but providing it with something that it clearly lacks: the financial resources necessary for its rapid and complete implementation, including a specific budget to investigate accidents in depth and to support associations of traffic victims “, he emphasizes.
It also points out the need to “strengthen the fight against alcohol and drugs, and repeat offenders, intervening socially and psychologically when a problem of addictions or personality disorders is identified. Last year the royal decrees were approved that made education in safe, healthy and sustainable mobility mandatory in infants, primary and secondary schools: this first year “of Law” it has become clear that more teaching hours are needed in physical education, training more teachers and provide educational centers with bicycles and materials to design safe routes to school”.
“We have technology and data for life, but ‘we have it in the drawer’: we must accelerate the rate at which technologies reach the vehicles that circulate on our streets and highways, and harness the data of the connected vehicle to help drivers to drive at safe speeds. Perhaps the most urgent thing is the development of awareness modules in the training programs for new drivers, where it is essential to include talks by victims of traffic accidents that help future drivers to think before driving », he concludes.
Also, as a psychologist and mental health professional, sea buds, executive director of Aesleme, has stressed the need to improve psychological care for victims and their families, who are facing dramatic and traumatic moments after a serious accident. “It cannot be that in hospital emergencies there is not yet a psychologist specialized in urgencies and emergencies, to adequately treat the victims,” she explains.
Regarding education, Cogollos considers that progress must be made in incorporation of road safety education in educational centers so that the Education Law is complied with, which, after its first year in force, still shows deficiencies and delays in its development and implementation in schools. In addition, he has explained the need to include safe and sustainable mobility also in professional training and in university curricula.
He has also regretted that the General Traffic Regulations have remained on ‘standby’ and have not been approved in this legislature, finally, leaving outstanding issues of great importance such as insurance, helmet and training, when you are going to drive with a vehicle personal mobility (VMP), such as electric scooters. Or even the mandatory face-to-face hours, to obtain the driving license at the driving school.
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