Benchmarking road safety in Latin American countries

Abstract

Benchmarking can be defined as a systematic process of searching for best practices, innovative ideas and highly effective operating procedures that lead to superior performance. In this sense, benchmarking is the first step to learn from the results obtained by others "in the same class." This paper presents the results from a research project with the aim of developing a methodology to assess road safety performances in ten Latin American countries and benchmark their performance against a set of indicators and best practices leading to a set of recommendations for individual countries and for other stakeholders to further improve road safety. The methodological approach was based on the road safety target hierarchy used in the SUNflower project, which requires a clear understanding of traffic safety processes at different levels in the hierarchy, as well as the causes and consequences that lead to casualties and costs for society. The participating countries were Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay and Uruguay. The comparisons between them allowed to identify the similarities and differences, not only on the number of crashes and casualties, but also on the factors, circumstances and events that influence the risk of crashes and the severity of their outcome. Several aspects were deeply analysed, namely road safety strategies, including key interventions and main stakeholders, the main characteristics of the road transport system, and the trends in fatal injuries and crashes. A special focus was given to the following subjects: pedestrians, powered two-wheelers, drink and driving, speed, seat belts and child restraint use, road infrastructure and trauma management. Beyond the specific recommendations for each country, this study also recommends further research. Road safety data collection and analysis has to be improved in Latin American countries in order to build a solid basis for policymaking on road safety.