A new report published by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) shares learnings of the first Decade of Action and prospects to save lives and serious injuries on safer roads in Latin America.

The “Road safety in Latin America and the Caribbean: After a decade of action and prospects for safer mobility” report includes iRAP assessment results and activity which informed Bank investment in the Decade to make regional road infrastructure safer.

Abstract

The first plan of the decade has come to an end, but not before demonstrating the importance that systemic work in road safety has for the world in terms of protecting life. Likewise, it has been made clear that it is not an easy job and that the task is not short; the processes of generation of actions, appropriation and knowledge of a culture of safe mobility take time and require a great effort on the part of all the governments of the world. In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), the last ten years have shown that the region has only managed to reduce the speed at which deaths from traffic accidents occur, and that these continue to be a growing trend, mainly due to the growth of the motorcycle fleet. Although it has been possible to raise awareness, create institutions, plan and implement important actions to reduce claims, LAC has not obtained the same results as high-income countries, which have reversed the trend. In accordance with the above, it is possible to conceive the second decade of action as an opportunity for LAC countries, an opportunity to finalize the processes initiated in these years and to introduce successful and enriching experiences from other countries in the region. With this study, the IDB intends to guide this process of continuous improvement, highlighting the best practices and offering an overview of how it is possible to move from theory to practice, following the principle that mobility must be safe, sustainable and inclusive. reducing the exposure to risk of all road stakeholders.

iRAP is proud of its long-standing partnership with IDB and congratulates the Bank on its achievements and the publication of this report.

iRAP and the IDB signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2020 to guide their ongoing partnership in the new Decade of Action to 2030.

The partnership will focus on delivering a measurable reduction in road trauma in the region and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Global Road Safety Performance Targets, particularly the Target 3: “By 2030, all  new roads achieve technical standards for all road users that take into account road safety, or meet a three star rating or better”; and Target 4: “By 2030, more than 75% of travel on existing roads is on roads that meet technical standards for all road users that take into account road safety”.

In particular, the work of iRAP and the IDB will focus on:

• reviewing the methods utilized in evaluating previous investments in road safety infrastructure and providing guidance and recommendations for future investments, with an emphasis on methods for measuring the programme effectiveness;
• developing communications plans to raise public awareness;
• training to build capacity compliant with the 3-star or better road safety standard;
• the implementation of Road Assessment Programmes (RAPs), following the iRAP methodology, in the region.