2023-05-13 11:40:19
In Mexico, where a person dies every half hour and every year 32,000 are permanently disabled by road accidents, half of the drivers acknowledge that they break traffic rules to some extent, even those designed to protect them.
According to estimates from the Mexican Institute of Transportation (IMT), the consequences of traffic events represent 3% of our country’s GDP, and close to 71% of road accidents occur due to causes related to the human factor.
These figures show that road safety must be prioritized as a public problem and show that road culture is an important step to save lives.
For this reason, the Aleatica Foundation for Road Safety carried out an opinion poll to find out the perceptions of vehicle drivers in Mexico regarding their behavior when driving or being passengers.
Among the main findings obtained, we highlight the following:
- Reckless driving? Yes, according to the responses of those surveyed, the problem is not ignorance of the traffic rules, since 9 out of 10 indicated that they know them, but rather that 5 out of ten do not comply with them.
The future does not look bright if we consider that half of those who break the rules are young people between the ages of 18 and 24.
- Practice makes a master? Road safety is the exception to the popular saying that “practice makes perfect”. 66% of those surveyed had a family member or friend as their teacher; while 12% learned by themselves. On the other hand, when asked if the respondents took some kind of theoretical or practical exam when processing their driver’s license, 24% answered that they did not. With these data we have a clear and compelling sample of why Mexico occupies the seventh global place of deaths due to traffic accidents and the second in Latin America.
Likewise, it can be inferred that bad driving practices or customs are transmitted from generation to generation, which inhibits the possibility of breaking with the current inertia, reducing the number of deaths from road accidents.
- We all know that the seat belt saves lives, but do we use it? Data from the Ministry of Health indicate that 51.5% of the people who died in a road incident did not have a seat belt. This correlates with the responses of those surveyed, since 6 out of 10 recognized that the traffic rule they break most frequently is not using a seat belt – neither in the front seat nor in the back.
- The more education, the more awareness in the use of seat belts? Not necessarily, of the 60% of those surveyed who agree not to use it, 6 out of 10 have the highest level of undergraduate and postgraduate studies.
- Riding without a license is not dangerous: Despite being a legal requirement, 5 out of 10 Mexicans consider that it is not dangerous to drive without a license. Additionally, the new generations do not show better habits or practices related to road culture, since 9 out of 10 Mexicans who do not have a driver’s license are young people between 18 and 24 years of age.
The “Aleatica Foundation” seeks to promote that the right to mobility in road safety conditions is a reality for all people and contribute to cultural change in terms of road safety, for this reason it assumes responsibly the call of the United Nations to join the Second Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030, a global commitment aligned with the 2030 Agenda, directing its efforts to fulfill target 3.6 of SDG 3, which proposes reducing deaths and injuries resulting from traffic events by at least 50 %.
Given this scenario, it becomes more important to promote actions that promote road culture and education to improve road safety habits.
People must become aware of the serious consequences of not following road safety recommendations and change these behaviors that put all mobility users at risk, which can be achieved by providing information on traffic rules, the negative effects of such behaviors and the benefits of using existing security devices.
It is important that, in order to develop a cultural change in the road safety system, a comprehensive and multisectoral approach is promoted that involves the collaboration and coordination of the private, public and civil sectors, in order to help train users of the safest roads. , because #SeguridadVialSomosTodos.
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