This is an unprecedented study in Latin America and the Caribbean conducted in 45 cities in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay, Dominican Republic and Uruguay.

The presentation panel was composed of: Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez´s President, María Fernanda Rodríguez; World Bank representative in Uruguay, Matilde Bordón; the senior expert on Road Safety from the Latin America Development Bank - CAF, Hilda Gómez; WHO/PAHO representative in Uruguay, Giovanni Escalante; and the President of the National Road Safety Agency (UNASEV), Gerardo Barrios.

 Presentation of main data from Uruguay was made by Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez´s Research Coordinator, Florencia Lambrosquini, together with Eduardo Botinelli, Director of Factum Company.

Also, the PAHO/WHO Road Safety Regional Advisor, María Eugenia Rodrígues commented on the importance of these regional research initiatives.

Mercedes Bernadá, Pediatrics Associate Professor at the School of Medicine, Expert on Children Intensive Care and Coordinator of the Pediatric Palliative Care Unit at the Children´s Hospital Pereira Rossell, shared her experience regarding children seriously injured while traveling on a motorcycle.

María Fernanda Rodríguez closed the presentation demanding more enforcement of requirements in the act, and more and better data on children injured in crashes. She also stated that “it is worrisome that 80% of motorcycle drivers traveling with children do not consider them at risk. It is necessary to raise the population´s awareness about the vulnerability children are exposed to when traveling on motorcycles".

Rodríguez believes that for many sectors of the population, the motorcycle, due to economic reasons, is the main means of transport for the family, and that is why she calls on authorities to provide alternatives that are safe and efficient for the transport of children.

By addressing this issue, the Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez starts a new stage including the child in other forms of mobility to and from education centers.

The Study

Aiming at halving the number of deaths and injuries caused by road crashes by 2020 - objective set by the United Nations as part of the Sustainable Development Goals-, the Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez together with the World Bank, the CAF- Latin America Development Bank, the UPS Foundation and the Ibero-American Road Safety Observatory (OISEVI), conducted this study as a first direct approximation to the issue. This work, supported by the National Road Safety Agency and carried out through FACTUM, aims at the creation of a knowledge base in the medium term to improve the conditions in which children travel on motorcycles.

Although there is in Uruguay an act that prohibits children from traveling on motorcycles until they reach the footrest (between 7 - 10 years old), the study shows that this requirement is not fulfilled. According to UNASEV´s last Report on Road Crashes, there is a downward trend, for the second year in a row, regarding children´s involvement in crashes. However, the number of motorcycle deaths increased in 67% in 2016 compared to 2015, more than half of the total number of deaths.

The “Study on the Conditions for Children Transport on Motorcycles in Latin America” won´t have achieved its objective until governments, local authorities and organizations involved don´t show the willingness to include, implement and demand minimum requirement that contribute to the reduction of deaths and injuries caused by crashes.