This event served as a forum to exchange views and experiences in order to substantially improve the road safety situation in Chile, in particular by prioritising road safety on the political agenda and reducing the number of fatalities on the country’s roads. The meeting has also paved the way for an annual road safety event in the region.

The dinner was opened by ACCHI President Alejandro Quintana Hurtado who reminded the audience of the Club’s goal to promote safe and sustainable mobility for all. Mr Quintana also highlighted the necessity to tackle the road safety issue in Chile where the fatality rate is still very high.

FIA President Jean Todt, who also serves as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, also insisted on the need to prioritise road safety and scale up the efforts to reduce road traffic fatalities: “Given the current global road safety situation and our looming deadlines, there is an urgent need for concerted and renewed effort on all levels.  A stronger coordination among all stakeholders is essential if we are to halve the number of global traffic fatalities by 2020.”

Participants included Young Tae Kim, Secretary-General of the International Transport Forum (ITF), Claudio Orrego, Governor of the Metropolitan Region of Santiago, Esteban Diez Roux, Senior Specialist, Transport Division at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Hilda Maria Gomez, Executive Leader for Road Safety at Latin-American Development Bank (CAF), Ricardo Sánchez, Senior Economic Affairs Officer and Azhar Jaimurzina, Head of the Unit of Infrastructure Services both working for the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, amongst others.

Following the opening remarks, all guests were invited to share their ideas on road safety in a more informal way at their tables, thus creating potential synergies and cooperation.