The director of the National Institute of Terrestrial Transit and Transport (Intrant), Claudia Franchesca de los Santos has said that the Dominican Republic has one of the highest rates of road traffic deaths in the Americas. She made the observation during a ceremony kicking off the First Road Safety Week. She said the first year of Intrant operations had been dedicated to develop the bases of the institution as designated in the National Road Safety Plan. She also released data from the Permanent Observatory for Road Safety (OPSEVI) that indicated during 2017 there were 2,804 road traffic deaths with the highest number at 270 being in the month of December.
She said that motorcyclists historically had the highest percentage of deaths with 1,452 in 2016 but this figure fell to 1,241 in 2017, accounting for a 14.5% decrease.
She announced a campaign in the provinces of Santo Domingo, San Cristóbal, La Altagracia, La Vega and Santiago that promotes the use of seatbelts, and warms about the danger of using a cellphone while driving.
The Road Safety data reveals that traffic accident deaths are higher than previously reported because the previous statistics did not include persons who had been injured and their deaths were later reported but not included as a traffic death statistics by the authorities.
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Intrant
20 November 2018
