Local Road Safety Plans

Since 2001, the European Union has sponsored the development of Road Safety policies, with the aim of reducing traffic accidents significantly. In Spain, Local Road Safety Plans, for cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants, are based on the DGT guidelines in its 2007 model. Specifying the definition of 86 monitoring indicators, in 9 areas of action and serving to 15 specific security improvement objectives. In the case that I present here, Benidorm, a municipality of 70,000 inhabitants, we have been able to calculate 77 indicators out of 86. This is due to the lack of specific data on the behavior of drivers, pedestrians or those involved in accidents in general. In fact, there are different databases, both locally and nationally, with not sufficiently robust information transfer criteria. It is, therefore, in my opinion, the collection and treatment of data, the origin and purpose of adequate maintenance of reliable indicators that, in turn, allow the implementation of clear measures to improve road safety. From my point of view, designing a sustainable system is the key to generating a global road safety plan instead of a merely statistical annual review. That is why each indicator has been analyzed, considering its data source, calculation method and utility. In this way, the monitoring of both the plan and the proposed actions is guaranteed. Below I attach the presentation that I had the opportunity to present within the Mobility Commission of Benidorm, last Monday.