02/07/2021

Together with Intrant we signed an agreement for children's road safety

In order to reduce the accident rate among children and adolescents in the medium and long term in the country, the National Institute of Transit and Land Transportation (INTRANT) and the Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez, signed an agreement which also aims at updating public policies and regulation of road safety practices.

The agreement signed by INTRANT's Executive Director, Rafael Arias, and the president of the Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez, María Fernanda Rodríguez, which will last for two years and can be extended, also seeks to consolidate and strengthen inter-institutional collaboration for the protection of children as pedestrians, passengers in private vehicles, school transport, motorcycles or bicycles.

In this sense, as a previous stage to the agreement, Rafael Arias led a workshop together with other officials of the Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez, on Child Road Safety Training, in order to implement actions for the benefit of the physical integrity of children and adolescents, users of any means of transportation.

Within the framework of the agreement, immediate work will be carried out in order to install a safety and protection issue for children on the roads, as one of the main work axes to reduce accident rates in the medium and long term throughout the country.

By signing the agreement, the Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez is committed to promote the implementation and management of Child Road Safety programs in Latin America and the Caribbean, focusing on the safety of children as vulnerable road users, and to promote and implement independent research.

Within the actions aimed at road safety for children, INTRANT has carried out social responsibility actions, guiding parents and/or guardians on the need and correct use of Child Restraint Systems (Car Seats), as it has been proven that their use reduces by up to 75% the probability of infant deaths in the event of a traffic accident.

Regarding the transportation of children
Article 69 of Law 63-17 establishes that ''children up to the age of twelve (12) years old shall be transported in the rear seats of the vehicle, except in the case of one (1) cab pickup truck type vehicles. Children up to six (6) years of age shall be transported in a special seat for infants with face forward position and those older than six (6) and up to twelve (12) years of age shall use a booster seat that allows them to safely use the rear seat belt.

INTRANT is the national governing body of the mobility, land transportation, transit and road safety system of the Dominican Republic and its vision is to be an international reference in the management of a sustainable, efficient, accessible and safe land mobility model, contributing to improve the quality of life of citizens, with respect to the environment.