Authorities of the Vice Ministry of Transport (VMT), the Fund for Assistance to Victims of Traffic Accidents (FONAT) and the National Council of Road Safety (CONASEVI) yesterday presented a proposal for reform to the Legislative Assembly on the mandatory use of devices safety for motorcyclists and the use of safety belts for all vehicle occupants.
The proposal proposes modifications to several articles of the Land Transport, Traffic and Road Safety Law, as well as adding to Article 86 that all motorcycle riders and their companion must meet the minimum safety requirements, such as wearing a harness, band or reflective vest with reflective material and a protective helmet with certain design requirements.
Young people most affected in traffic accidents
"This is because the motorcyclist often becomes invisible to the driver of large vehicles, and apart from this invisibility that is generated by blind angles, we have the bad culture of motorcycle drivers," said Edwin Flores, general manager traffic.
They also request to amend numeral 63 of the fines table of article 117 and insert the numerals 63-A, 63-B and 63-C in which it is sanctioned as a serious offense, with a fine of $ 34.29, that the motorcycle driver or his companion Do not use the indicated protective helmet or use a reflective device, like safety clothing.
They also seek to make it compulsory for all occupants of a motor vehicle to wear a seatbelt. "Sometimes a driver or side passenger does have a seatbelt, but passengers who go back in case of a disaster fly off and hurt them, even leading to death. They crash against the windshields, fall on the ground in case of sinister roads, "he added.
The proposal presented also adds three paragraphs to article 77 on the suspension of the driver's licenses. "It will cause suspension of the driver's license for a period of six months, who is responsible for generating a traffic accident when driving a motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicating, narcotic and nerve-damaging beverages," the proposal states.
Deaths in accidents exceed 400 victims
However, this initiative does not include an increase in the amount of the obituaries. This proposal was presented to the Legislative Assembly in November 2012.
"We believe that the sector, the political element that entails increasing an objection, does not let a reform process advance as it should advance, because politicians are afraid of the consequences of increasing an objection," Flores commented.
In addition to the request for reform, the VMT would implement other measures with the purpose of reducing road accidents. "We are in a process of regulatory reform too, which we have almost completed and aim to review schools of management, examiners and the creation of other entities such as training institutes or professionalization of drivers," said Flores.
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