The deputy delegate of the Government in A Coruña, María Rivas, participated this morning in the Pazo de Mariñan (Bergondo), in the opening ceremony of the II Conference on Road Safety organized by the Institute of Criminology (ICUS) of the University of Santiago de Compostela, a Diputación de A Coruña and the association Stop Accidents, an event that brought together experts and authorities to address the challenges derived from sustainable mobility and new technologies in road safety and assistance to victims.
At the opening ceremony, the deputy delegate was accompanied by the president of the Diputación de A Coruña, Valentín González Formoso, Gumersindo Guinarte, representative of the USC and member of the organizing committee, and Jeanne Picard, president of the Stop Accidents Association.
The subdelegate highlighted the Government’s involvement in road safety: through care for victims; education, awareness and prevention through the School Coexistence Master Plan; prevention through DGT campaigns; adaptation of public roads through investments in improving the safety of our roads; and also in monitoring compliance with the rules with the work of the Civil Traffic Guard.
Thus, during his speech, he stressed the importance of remembering the victims of road accidents, stressing that every year approximately 1.35 million people lose their lives in road accidents worldwide.
In Galicia, 88 people died last year, 27 of them in the province of A Coruña. In addition, more than 4,000 people were seriously injured, highlighting the need for comprehensive care that includes medical care and socio-labor support.
The subdelegate highlighted the importance of the work that is carried out in training, awareness and prevention from childhood, through the School Coexistence Master Plan, in which the Government counts specialized agents of the Civil Guard and the National Police. He noted that this year 1,920 activities were carried out in 359 schools in the province, some of them related to road safety.
He also highlighted as fundamental the control and surveillance campaigns by the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT), focused on speed, the use of safety belts, the inspection of school transport vehicles, the consumption of alcohol and drugs, and the protection of vulnerable users such as pawns, cyclists and motorcyclists.
Another fundamental part of the Government’s action is related to the investments in improving road safety that is part of all the actions that are being carried out and that in the year 2023 reached an investment of 16.2 million euros in the province of A Coruña.
María Rivas, also valued the daily work of the women and men that make up the Traffic Subsector of A Coruña that counts 268 agents, of the 854 members of the Civil Traffic Guard that exist throughout Galicia.
He concluded his speech by calling for collaboration and public awareness of the impact of road accidents and the importance of working together for road safety.