3 years to end road safety “anarchy”
PANAMA has three years to reduce its highway carnage deaths and another 10 to achieve adequate urban mobility to achieve its Sustainable Development Objectives (ODS).
There are 128 traffic accidents a day according to figures compiled by the Office of the Comptroller General and in the first 295 days of 2017 there were 327 road deaths and over 1,000 injuries. In 2016 fatalities totaled 435. The figures have been increasing since 2010 and this year has seen a flood of accidents involving pirate buses.
David Ramírez, Director of Road Education for the Transit Transport Authority (ATTT), is optimistic that the ODS goals set will be met, reports La Prensa.
He maintains that they have made significant efforts in road education, in improving signposting and public transport, and even in the revision of the Traffic Regulations.
However, specialists in mobility and road safety say that the country lives in a state of “Anarchy” and that it is necessary to coordinate actions that go beyond those carried out by the ATTT.
they argue that efforts must be directed towards improving the orderly growth of the city and in the construction of roads, in signage, as well as in permanent awareness campaigns.
The Sustainable Development Goals not only present challenges in health, education and housing, but in areas such as community life.
Among the international development goals is the reduction – by 2020 – to half the number of deaths and injuries caused by traffic in the world.
The second challenge to be met is in 2030 and is to increase “inclusive and sustainable urbanization,
such as the capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable planning and management of human settlements in all countries”.
Faced with these challenges, Panama is not aligned with international standards on mobility and road safety established by the World Health Organization (WHO).
To measure the progress of countries, the WHO assesses regulations on alcohol, speed limits in urban areas, and use of, helmets among others. Panama is poorly rated in the first three.
