The agreement highlights the importance of generating high-impact public policies to stop this epidemic; world experts suggest considering road crashes as a public health issue.

“To support governments in Latin America and the Caribbean to push the topic of child road safety up the political and public agenda” thus contributing to the development of initiatives that cater for children´s needs on the roads, this was one of the main commitments made by representatives from the different countries signing the Declaration of Santiago at the closing of the 2º Child Road Safety International Forum (FISEVI), organized by Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez, from Uruguay, on June 16 and 17, in Chile.

Representatives from more than 30 countries gathered to exchange experiences and generate new ideas to tackle the issue; they expressed their concern about road crashes being the global main cause of death for those aged between 5 - 29; Latin America is one of the continents that suffers this tragedy the most.

The Declaration of Santiago suggested considering road crashes as a public health issue, and investing resources from the sector for their prevention. Countries committed to "promote child road safety legislation in Latin American countries which do not have these regulations yet, and to contribute to the improvement of child road safety legislation to guarantee minimum safety conditions in children transport." In this regard, their commitment includes "promoting control, enforcement, and penalization for the effective compliance of the previously mentioned legislation."

Experts reported that every four minutes a child dies in a road crash, and more than twenty thousand are injured. One of the reasons to select Chile as the host to the event was that fact that it presents high child mortality rates on the roads: in the last decade 130 000 minors under 17 died in road crashes, as stated by Chile´s Minister of Transport and Telecommunications, Andrés Gómez-Lobo, who participated in the opening of the forum.

The Declaration of Santiago also proposes sharing best practices and experiences carried out in different countries, as in the case of regulations implemented in Chile regarding safe school transport in light vehicles, certification of Child Restraint Systems, and the increase in the maximum age for children to travel in child seats in private cars.

NETWORKING WITH THE CIVIL SOCIETY

Other of the points proposed was to create a network composed of public and private entities, and civil society organizations, to conduct research and share relevant data and information to build robust knowledge about Latin America current situation to address issues in an effective and efficient way.

Also, it is suggested to monitor the impact of these measures on road crashes figures, and to assess the situation in those countries not making any progress, despite making efforts and implementing new regulations, as in the case of Chile.

SCHOOL TRANSPORT

Some of the highlight of the forum were, the presentation by Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez and FedEx, of a unprecedented regional study on the current status of school transport conducted in Buenos Aires (Argentina), Sao Pablo (Brazil), Santiago (Chile), Bogotá (Colombia), México DF (Mexico), Asunción (Paraguay), Lima (Peru), Madrid (Spain), New York (United States) and Montevideo (Uruguay). The study showed great disparity in regulations between the countries in the region. New York, for instance, was awarded "5 stars", it complies with the most stringent technical and legal standards, it was followed by Santiago, Buenos Aires and Montevideo, all of them with “4 stars”, the worst result was for Ciudad de México with “1 star”.

Other aspects discussed were related to certifications child restraint systems should comply with, and safety technologies to be required for vehicle importation, so that they have front and side airbags, and stability systems. The need for countries to make progress on regulations and enforcement in school transport was also analyzed.

Finally, FISEVI 20018 will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.