On 17 November, FIA President Jean Todt was invited to speak at the fourth annual meeting of the Ibero-American Road Safety Observatory (OISEVI), an international cooperation instrument that brings together high-level road safety authorities from 20 Ibero-American countries.

OISEVI’s main goal is to coordinate road safety strategies and initiatives at a regional level and develop the technical capabilities of each of its member states. 

The annual meeting was attended by representatives of FIA Region IV, including President Jorge Tomasi, of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), of the International Transport Forum (ITF), including President José Viegas and of the civil society. 

In his speech Jean Todt congratulated OISEVI Steering Committee Chairman Felipe Rodriguez Laguens for his committed efforts to the road safety cause:

“OISEVI is now recognised as an outstanding example of what regional cooperation on road safety can achieve. By producing reliable road safety data, it plays a crucial role in helping road safety authorities identify the best course of action. It is an example which I hope can be replicated in other regions around the world.”

The Latin American region is disproportionately affected by this road safety challenge. The impact is devastating with - for instance - more than 42,000 people losing their lives on the road every year in Brazil.

Great progress has been made in countries like Argentina, thanks to coordinated action between OISEVI, regional development banks such as the IDB, and the national government. Road fatalities have decreased by more than 20% in recent years in the country.

At the closing of the event Felipe Rodriguez Laguens presented Jean Todt with a token of appreciation of the lasting collaboration between OISEVI and FIA.

OISEVI has been supporting a joint FIA-ITF project to benchmark road safety performance in 10 Latin American countries. The objective of this project is to offer policy makers in the region a tool to assess the weaknesses and strengths of each country and identify areas where the experience of other countries could be used.