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Traffic accidents in Venezuela: a public health, social and economic problem
Empathy is not predominant among Venezuelan drivers, quite the opposite: aggression, unconsciousness and disrespect are common behaviors among drivers.
By Anggy Polanco / Correspondent lapatilla.com
At least four areas in the country have the highest rate of traffic accidents with fatalities and multiple injuries, including Carabobo, Zulia, Capital District and Táchira, which is due to various factors such as recklessness, lack of road education, poor condition of parked car, consumption of alcoholic beverages, abandonment of the road network and dismantling of the monitoring and control system.
The experts agreed that the increase in traffic accidents in Venezuela represents a social phenomenon in which the vehicle, the driver, the road and, in some cases, the pedestrian interact. According to the mobility regulations, socially acceptable tariffs can occur and, in relation to the vehicle fleet and population of a social conglomerate, traffic accidents can occur.
The alarm is triggered when the number of traffic accidents exceeds socially acceptable levels, such as in Táchira. This Andean country is not one of the places with the most traffic accidents because it does not have enough roads and it is therefore worrying that there are more traffic accidents than in major cities such as Valencia, Caracas, Maracay or Maracaibo.
According to the municipal police of San Cristóbal, there were 1,300 traffic accidents in Táchira last year, resulting in 48 deaths. As of January 14, 2024, 76 traffic accidents had already occurred, in which 5 people died and 86 were injured.
These numbers indicate that there is a public health problem in this border region of Venezuela. Health centers are collapsing due to the number of surgical procedures and the occupation of traumatic areas due to injuries from traffic accidents.
Back in 2012, the term “Bera Emergencies” was coined for the trauma area of Venezuelan public hospitals, an expression that alludes to a popular brand of motorcycle and is now back in fashion due to the high incidence in hospital centers of motorized vehicles. Wounded.
The young adult population suffers up to three broken bones in each accident, an age group that is said to be the one that drives the country’s economy, explained Lilian Romero, representative of Organization Asotránsito, a non-governmental organization based in Caracas.
According to the latest data from the World Health Organization published in 2020, the number of deaths caused by traffic accidents in Venezuela reached 11,127 (7.06% of all deaths). The mortality rate by age is 39.75 per 100,000 inhabitants, placing it in the top 30 countries with the highest number of road deaths.
New generations without street education
Traffic accidents in Venezuela: a public health, social and economic problem
Since around 2012, Venezuela has had high traffic accident statistics, but in the years of greatest crisis the numbers fell dramatically due to economic difficulties and then due to the pandemic, which led to little mobility on the roads. There weren’t even that many motorcycles anymore, Romero specified.
“But currently mechanics are selling more motorcycles and there is greater mobility of two-wheelers,” said Romero, “while during the period of lockdown due to Covid-19 there was no traffic education and the new generations of riders are not aware of safety. ” Regulate. Road safety.
“We were stuck, locked in because of an economic problem that created a driving frenzy and everyone wanted to drive at excessive speeds,” he added.
The specialist explained the frequency of traffic accidents in Venezuela, which is higher than the number of vehicles on the road. There are more than a million motorcycles on the country’s roads, unlike Colombia where there are 4 million motorcycles in circulation, although with a lower impact on the road. And in Caracas, more than three motor vehicle accidents occur every day.
80% of traffic accidents involve a driver, who is usually a small boy who does not know the traffic rules.
Family transport
Traffic accidents in Venezuela: a public health, social and economic problem
It is worth emphasizing that the high prevalence of motorcycles is due to the scarcity of gasoline, the cheapness of the purchase and also that public transport is poor, so people choose to buy a motorcycle and have the possibility of the whole Transporting the family by motorcycle That’s why you see the father with the two small children and also that he is carrying the mother,” said the expert on this topic.
“If we don’t introduce controls now with fines, sanctions and traffic education, this number will get out of control,” said Lilian Romero.
Humans are at fault in 80% of road accidents, but this does not absolve the state of responsibility for ensuring safe roads. Although there is human error, roads are required to ensure safety through lighting and signage 50 meters in front of the road, which is not present in the country, and there is no demarcation on the roads or road information, Romero claimed.
“The purpose of the tolls was to improve the roads and provide 24-hour care and assistance to the victims.” He explained that it could not be the toll, but there were not even ambulances on the roads.
Asotránsito has noted that there are not enough breathalyzers in the country and officers work practically without instruments, some even have no ticket books.
Missing road forecasts
Traffic accidents in Venezuela: a public health, social and economic problem
President of the Venezuelan Society of Transport and Road Construction, Celia Herrera, agreed that the country’s high road accident rate is nothing new. What happens is that at some point there are periods when it becomes more visible because some occur that have very notable peculiarities due to the number of injuries or deaths, as has happened recently.
He stressed that there are a number of factors that have led to this, including the lack of road safety regulations and the lack of warning to users about eventualities that happen on the road due to temporary interruptions or similar situations.
In the past, these events have been due to excessive speeds, poor condition of the road and associated equipment, as well as the condition of the vehicle fleet, which has a useful life of more than 13 years, which requires greater maintenance, and in the country it can be very be expensive.
“We don’t know what condition the operational vehicle fleet is in. “As part of the Venezuelan legislation, the annual inspection of vehicles is planned to obtain the minimum data, such as the condition of the front axle, the braking system and parts that could influence the occurrence of an accident,” emphasized Herrera.
He mentioned that there is a great anarchy in motor traffic, based on impunity: people know that they can commit violations and absolutely nothing happens, the surveillance and control system is incoherent. Therefore, there is a need for a greater presence of honest, well-trained and well-paid prosecutors and for the restoration of the integrity of the security forces, which was once an example of good practice.
“We need to regain a citizenry that is more committed to civility, because the best means of traffic control is citizenship,” recommended the engineer.
He also stressed the importance of the new generations resuming the process of obtaining driving licenses and driving with their respective theoretical and practical exams, which certify that they know the rules, laws and minimum requirements.
offenders in 2023
Jairo Escalante, Director of the Municipal Police of San Cristóbal, explained that given this social phenomenon, it is up to the State to control it and reduce it to an acceptable level and to address the causes that appear in Táchira in some cases caused by the consumption of Drinks. Alcoholic, but recklessness is the queen of accidents.
Reckless acts include speeding, failure to follow precautions regarding the use of seat belts, wearing helmets in motorized vehicles, and the distractions caused by using the phone while driving, as well as failure to drive defensively. , meaning the driver must anticipate the behavior of drivers next to him or at an intersection.
What happens in San Cristóbal is that drivers don’t stop at the yellow light but accelerate. Others don’t wait even a second when the red light turns green to start the vehicle, leading to accidents.
The Mayor’s Office of San Cristóbal is taking action and has therefore amended the Regulation on the Transportation System of Passengers, Goods and Roads, introduced the fine system and imposed more than 11,500 fines in 2023, with payments determined according to the currency with the highest value per day and 180 community workplaces for those who could not pay these amounts.
If the fines are repeated, the vehicles will be confiscated. For serious violations, a fine of 30 times the maximum value is imposed, for minor violations 20 times and for minor violations 10 times.
San Cristóbal municipal police officers recently began using body cameras that record at a 140-degree angle to check violations. They are also activating a pilot plan for cameras at traffic lights that will record offenders in the most vulnerable spots. Yet people continue to break the rules.
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