Closing Conference of the Speed ​​Management Project in Latin America: the case of Argentina

The project “Speed ​​management in Latin America: the case of Argentina” is financed by the United Nations Fund for Road Safety and seeks to improve the existing technical capacity in Argentina to develop policies and strategies for the introduction of management systems of speed, changing the perception of citizens about reductions in speed limits to achieve safer urban and rural roads.

To achieve the goal of reducing speed limits, the project’s focus will be on comprehensive work with all stakeholders and the population, through educational strategies that explain the benefits of speed management.

The main road safety issue to be addressed is speed management. Speed-related claims are estimated to be 1/3 of all accidents and the reason for the most serious consequences. The Nilson power model (Nilson, 2004) suggests that a 1% increase in average speed corresponds to a 2% increase in injury crashes, a 3% increase in serious injury crashes, and a 4% increase in Deadly accidents. In other words: a 5% increase in average speed translates to a 20% increase in fatal crashes, and vulnerable road users are especially affected.

The speed limits on the main rural roads in Argentina are between 80-110 km/h, on highways between 90-130 km/h and in urban areas between 20-80 km/h depending on the type of vehicle. Speed ​​management programs that include the reduction of speed limits and their application are difficult to explain to society, which thinks of speed as a positive value, since it reduces travel times and is understood as the way to to use the roads: “fast and for vehicles”. Changing the perception of speed requires a specific strategy and extensive media coverage of the good practices that other countries and cities have applied, as well as their results. The project will contribute to this, providing a selection of the best practices in the world and the region in the matter, in addition to raising the vision of international experts, who guide in the best ways to disseminate the benefits of speed management, in addition to the implementation of pilot projects in search of the reduction of deaths from this cause.