The Government of Mexico, through the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT), and the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) have today signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote programmes and projects to eliminate high-risk roads in Mexico and develop a locally led MexiRAP programme.

According to World Health Organisation data, Mexico’s road fatalities number over 16,300 annually, with an additional 167,000 serious injuries.  Road crashes cost Mexico up to 3.5% of its annual GDP.

Improving the safety of Mexico’s road infrastructure by 2030 has enormous potential – the saving of 1.2 million deaths and serious injuries over the 20-year life of road treatments and an economic benefit of $15 for every $1 spent.

Speaking at the event and representing the Undersecretary of Transportation, Rogelio Jiménez Pons, the General Director of the Federal Motor Transport (DGAF), Laura Nohemi Muñoz Benítez, said the signing of the MOU reflects the Government’s priority to strengthen safety on the country’s roads to save lives and reduce the burden of injury due to road crashes.

It supports fulfilment of the commitments and targets of the Global Plan of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 to halve road deaths and injuries by 2030 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The partnership includes the development of projects and programmes to make roads safer in Mexico through the application of the globally recognized and freely available iRAP Methodology and tools to evaluate road infrastructure risk and inform strategic investment in countermeasures to improve road safety.

The partnership aims to foster stakeholder collaboration, capacity building, road safety innovation and the development of a locally led and globally supported MexiRAP Programme.

The partnership will be critical to achievement of UN Global Road Safety Performance Targets 3 and 4 in Mexico, which include ensuring all new roads are built to a 3-star or better standard for all road users (Target 3), and more than 75% of travel is on the equivalent of 3-star or better roads for all road users by 2030 (Target 4).

The MOU was signed by the General Director of Technical Services of the SICT Vinicio Andrés Serment Guerrero and iRAP Safer Journeys Lead for Latin America and the Caribbean Edgar Zamora.

Also in attendance were the General Director of Highway Safety and Facilities of the National Guard, Gen. Cruz Isaac Muñoz Navarro; the General Director of the Mexican Transport Institute (IMT), Alberto Mendoza Díaz; the General Director of Protection and Preventive Medicine in Transportation, Guillermo García Pinto; representative to the Australian Ambassador to Mexico Rachel Moseley, Matthew Robertson; and the Executive Director of Technical Development, Juan Manuel Mares Reyes.

Representatives from Mexican road safety NGOs and private organisations were also present including CAPUFE, STCONAPRA, CONATRAM, AMOTAC, CONCAMIN, BANOBRAS, Safe Mobility Coalition, AMAAC, WRI, Aleatica Foundation, and the Association of Victims of Traffic Accidents.