Insensitive to prevent road JIMMY G.

ESCOBAR Bogotá Although 66% and 73% of Bog

ota's remember him for his dramatic charge any advertisement concerning road saf
ety, which came to them through radio, newspapers or television, only 31% is ass
imilated and applied in the streets. This indicates that the statistics do not a
ssimilate Bogota or standards promoted by advertising campaigns. This calls into
question the effectiveness of advertising in this area. This is according to a
study known as El Espectador and conducted by the Colombian Foundation Pedestria
n (FCP). The pedestrian is the same in Lima, Quito, Caracas, La Paz, Bogota and
Mexico: undisciplined, rebellious and defiant in streets and avenues and, even w
orse, does not understand or will not understand or with strong messages that hi
s performance as a transient in high traffic roads is not appropriate. In the ca
se of Bogotá, the less sensitive to the stimulus of publicity on road safety ha
ve this profile passengers, adults, layer three, primary or secondary education.
But overall the perception of Bogota does not vary greatly according to the str
ata, gender or educational level, so the behavior is similar to the profile of l
ess compliant citizens. The document assesses the impact of advertising on pedes
trians and drivers. According to an individual analysis, the result of each of t
he advertising messages delivered in the last 48 months outcome of a concern, as
the greatest achievement in recruitment is 9%. However, according to the FCP is
a higher level of awareness among Bogota today than in the past. "The problem i
s that there is compliance with the rules, nor is there sufficient manpower on t
he streets, there is little signage and there is not the best," says Gustavo Cal
derón Herrera, a researcher and director of the FCP. I have it live! Except in
the case of drivers and where alcohol is involved, results in recruitment of mes
sages
prevention have been more positive. However, in terms of effectiveness or degree
of implementation of the fruits are not many, at least in the capital. Reports
of the Metropolitan Police Traffic realize that every weekend are immobilized be
tween 120 and 150 vehicles, because its driver is intoxicated. According to the
director of the FCP, rather than invest large resources in advertising research
is needed. "It reverts to the wild, and when campaigns are designed to be assess
ed against which there is no comparison or expectations are not filled." The roo
t of the phenomenon is not only a cultural issue, has multiple causes. One of th
em, according to Calderon Herrera, has its origin in economic and social conditi
ons of the environment, all of which stimulate the bad or good behavior. "The mo
re developed nations, their inhabitants walk better," said the manager. FCP expe
rts conclude their work with a suggestion to the authorities at the national and
district on the issue of preventing road. "We should consider, then, the distri
bution of resources for this type of campaign in accordance with the size of the
target population in each user's condition." The report says in its conclusions
that depending on the condition of the user, either driver, pedestrian, cyclist
or motorcyclist, there must be a very accurate measurement and consistent with
the reported accident rate in each category. In this situation highlights the ne
ed to significantly increase the fighting strength of the Metropolitan Police an
d in particular for transit.
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http://www.elespectador.com/2002/20020515/joven-es/nota2.htm Wednesday May 14, 2
002 Transmilenio: 42 accidents in just four months and Eliana Nicolás RamÍrez
Cuéllar DÍaz Castellanos The last two accidents in less than submitted one wee
k in Transmilenio question the security of the system and responsibility for the
se events have had drivers and pedestrians. The first of these took place on Thu
rsday 2 May at 22nd Street to Avenida Caracas TransMilenio bus with a mechanical
failure was parked on the right side of the road. One woman, who witnesses said
the accident, not by the zebra crossing, but behind that another vehicle caused
the bus coming down the left lane curb and crashed into the articulated not run
her over. At that same intersection, on Wednesday 8 May in the afternoon,€Tran
smilenio three buses collided on the imprudence of a particular vehicle made a l
eft turn prohibited and also crossed the red light. These two facts add up to 42
car accidents in the first four months have involved articulated buses. Althoug
h Transmilenio manager, Edgar Enrique Sandoval, says the system is very safe for
Bogota and that shocks are not the fault of the operators of buses, but from ex
ternal causes such as carelessness of pedestrians and drivers of public service
and particular, users and experts consulted by The Spectator say the responsibil
ity also falls on this transport system. And is that these accidents are not jus
t a matter of cans and car bodies that are damaged and change, but lives at risk
as a result of collisions. For example, on 8 April, a city bus at Universal Tra
nsport circulating in the 51st Avenue south Caracas spent the yellow light and c
ollided with an articulated bus. In this accident fifteen people were injured, o
f whom seven were sent to Cami and Tunjuelito El Tunal. The same happened on 31
December last year when a driver of a public bus collided with a Transmilenio le
aving leaving two people dead. Given these problems, the planner says Ricardo Mo
ntezuma one of the drawbacks is that it begins to discredit the system that in r
ecent years became the pride of Bogota.
Ensures that shocks are presented by internal and external faults such as the na
rrow stretch of mixed lane between 51st Street and Caracas Avenue south portal U
sme, problems in the traffic lights and signals, the recklessness of pedestrians
to cross highway or Caracas and lack of respect for the rules by the public and
private drivers. In the same vein, Dario Fernando Ruiz said in open forum elesp
ectador.com that people crossing the tracks by the most unexpected places, buses
ignore the warning signs, the cars they want to win seconds disrespecting the r
ules and that the only solution is education and prevention. The civil engineer
and executive director of the Colombian Foundation for Pedestrians, Gustavo Herr
era Calderon says you can not just blame the pedestrian, it is necessary to inve
stigate issues such as negligence, distraction, inexperience, breach of rules an
d recklessness Transmilenio drivers and individuals. Responsible for accidents E
dgar Enrique Sandoval contends that it always will be presented car accident and
currently have from four to five games per week. "Until we have exclusivity on
the roads and vehicles are operated by human beings will go on to shocks." Ensur
e system users, however, that operators of the articles are too reckless and exc
eeding the set speed. In this regard, the directors of the company say that it i
s not possible because the buses are designed to not pass 60 miles per hour and
the control center detect any abnormalities. The origin of the accident to the c
ouncilman Pedro Rodriguez Tobo is that it only has been administered in the stem
Transmilenio knowing that part of the transport system of the city. "Non-agency
coordination between the Ministry of Traffic and Transport (STT) and the Compan
y TransMilenio, S. A. The transport authority is only the STT does not enforce t
he rules, or control the articulated buses. " Rodriguez also criticized the work
of the district administration, because in his opinion, was due a strategy of c
ivic culture to teach pedestrians and drivers to respect the signs and know the
mass transit system. "Citizens are passed red lights once a month, not by the ze
bra crossing and turn left onto a lane of private vehicles in Caracas, unaware t
hat it is forbidden because it is safe passage for those who leave or enter Tran
sMilenio stations. So the culture of citizenship is required. "
In that match one of the users of the system, Sarate Maria Teresa, who says that
when blame someone, responsibilities are shared. "On one hand, private vehicles
are not respecting traffic signs and also Transmilenio drivers are very confide
nt to have a unique way to their buses," he argues. For its part, Ruth Diaz Cast
illo, a system user in the forum said that pedestrian indiscipline and recklessn
ess of drivers€the system is designed to operate at an average speed but traffi
c lanes adjacent to others and especially in the turns and lights a joint has fa
iled and prudence that is necessary to prevent accidents. For that reason, Sando
val does not discard the possibility of taking action on the issue and reduce th
e speed limit of the articles. Also, experts recommend improving faulty traffic
lights, to distinguish the speed of the articles on rainy days and summer, check
 that the Control Center to function properly implement road safety education, c
ombined with culture for pedestrians and drivers. Join the forum on accident in
elespectador.com TransMilenio.