By: Giselle Mendez
The National Traffic Day was held, as every year, in the month of November throughout the island. This year 2023 reached its 60th edition in Santiago de Cuba, with the slogan: «Love with road safety», which appeals to the emotional component of the family and all population groups, in order to reduce traffic accidents.
The observance was extended until November 25, with the public objective of promoting and developing actions that contribute to transform the negative behaviors that affect road safety. Since last November 5, when it began, activities aimed at raising awareness among drivers and pedestrians about the necessary discipline on the road to avoid accidents.
Santiago de Cuba is one of the territories with the highest rate of traffic accidents in the country. In 2022, the province registered a total of 683 accidents, with 47 deaths and 853 injured. These indicators are worse than the previous year: they exceeded by 115 accidents and 193 injured. For this reason, it is vital to continue improving education, prevention and road safety.
On this occasion, activities were carried out in educational institutions and selected neighborhoods of @heroicasantiago, aimed at promoting interaction with the community for road safety education.
Activities for the National Traffic Day in Santiago de Cuba
The activities for the 60th National Traffic Day in Santiago de Cuba were aimed at socializing good practices in the population of the city.
In this sense, the program of this edition included initiatives to promote in the public space of the road, more responsible behaviors among users – pedestrians and drivers – covering different generations of Cubans.
Basically, this time it was aimed at senior citizens, children and young people, taking into account that up to the age of 20, accidents are the main cause of death; hence, in Santiago de Cuba, morning sessions and workshops were organized in schools, neighborhoods, contests for children, adolescents and young people, among other initiatives to promote knowledge and care in road safety.
One of the open calls as part of the activities for the National Traffic Day in Santiago de Cuba is the contest «I am responsible on the road», which rewarded knowledge about road safety in the categories of poetry, short stories, drawings and short videos.
Until November 15, adolescents and young people from Santiago de Cuba may submit their proposals at the headquarters of the Provincial Department of Health Promotion and Disease.
According to Clara Rosales, PR of this department, the purpose of the contest is to ensure that the new generations of Santiago de Cuba «integrate their knowledge and put it into practice, in order to guarantee a happy and accident-free life on public roads».
This articulates with the country’s strategic plan designed for the period 2018-2030 to meet the goal of reducing traffic accidents by 50 percent. This plan includes road safety education in the different school levels, which for Colonel Roberto Rodriguez, head of the Specialized Traffic Body of the General Directorate of the National Revolutionary Police, is of vital importance.
The specialist pointed out that distractions were among the main causes of accidents on the road, estimated at 31%: «It can be driving with a cell phone in your hand, answering a call or even texting; also, driving with only one hand, with loud music or eating food», exemplified the colonel in the round table about the subject, in the context of the Day.
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National Traffic Day Seeks to Prevent Road Accidents in Cuba
Throughout the month of November, drivers from Santiago de Cuba with ten, fifteen, twenty or more years without accumulating traffic accidents were recognized, as well as professional drivers and entities of the Automotive Transport Business Group. The program of the 60th National Traffic Day also included skill competitions for professional drivers, among other initiatives, in conjunction with the Vehicle Registration and Driver’s License Offices.
