“The last reel”: Senda and Transportes launch a campaign that calls for responsible transit on these National Holidays

This morning the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications together with the National Service for the Prevention and Rehabilitation of Drug and Alcohol Consumption (Senda) announced the road accident prevention campaign “ The Last Reel”, an initiative that is part of the “18 Seguro” plan for these National Holidays and that seeks to raise awareness among citizens about the importance of driving safely responsibly and without consuming alcohol or drugs.

According to the authorities, in the last five years there were 5,732 traffic accidents during the National Holidays, which caused 145 deaths and 3,828 injuries.

“This time we want to draw the attention of a particular group: Conaset made an analysis of the information on claims and the participation, especially of the segment of young people between 15 and 29 years old, and we want to focus in them, because the figures are shocking and we want to avoid more accidents, more deaths, more injuries," said the Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, Gloria Hutt.

During 2020 alone, he pointed out, people in this segment - between 15 and 29 years old - participated in 32,000 road accidents, of which 415 died, and more than 14,000 were injured.

“These are figures that require attention, especially in the segment in which they are concerned. For this reason, we are calling attention to responsible driving, to avoiding substance use. Among the figures, valuable information emerges to focus preventive policies: 17% of this segment declares having gotten into a vehicle driven by someone who consumed alcohol or marijuana”, he indicated. “That reflects that there is reckless behavior. The causes are associated with speed, driving without sufficient attention, and in general conditions that reflect either lack of experience or carelessness in driving.

More about National Holidays

As part of the campaign, the spot “El ultimo Carrete” will be broadcast starting today on TV and social networks, and its objective is to convey to the public the importance of self-care in traffic by showing the story of a couple who suffers a road accident with their friends for driving under the influence of alcohol.

In this sense, the executive secretary of Conaset, Johanna Vollrath, highlighted that “when a bad decision is made in transit, one's own life is put at risk as well as that of innocent people” , also adding that although we have experienced difficult times due to the pandemic, "now that we have the opportunity to leave home, the call is to do it responsibly."

The national director of Senda, Carlos Charme, also emphasized this issue, who pointed out that “every year we call for prevention and ask people to take care of themselves, but this time we want to talk to you to those who can potentially commit a crime, to those who can end up damaging their integrity or that of others and thereby change their lives or that of others forever.”

“The consumption of alcohol and other drugs can lead us to act irresponsibly, to destroy lives without turning back. That is why I ask you, who is going out, that if unfortunately you are going to consume alcohol or other drugs, do not drive, do not risk your life or that of others, do not let this be the last celebration, ”he added.

During the National Holidays last year, there were 594 traffic accidents in which 22 people lost their lives and more than 446 were injured. The main cause of deaths was imprudent speed and loss of control of the vehicle (9 fatalities), followed by imprudence by pedestrians (3), imprudence by drivers and alcohol while driving (2).

Comment

Please log in to La Tercera to access comments.