In Argentina 170,000 potential hours of lives are lost every year due to traffic accidents. Understanding this issue is one of the main causes of high mortality and social morbidity, the Federal Government took this subject as "state policy" and established as cornerstones of the same tasks of awareness, prevention, control and punishment.

Now, what happens in the city? In its report, the Auditor General of the City of Buenos Aires (AGCBA, for its acronym in Spanish) recounts the laws and decrees aimed at solving road problems, such as the adoption of a Strategic Plan, an intelligent transport system intended to provide information transit and even a risk map with hotspots. But in its survey on the management of the Directorate of Road Safety problems detected precisely in tasks and training completion, two of the pillars on which this kind of public policy rests.

During 2012, the year audited, the Department implemented its activities through two financial programs, one for education and awareness, and another related to the control of traffic regulations. The tasks of the latter, focus on controlling and monitoring compliance with guidelines, in coordination with other departments and police forces and to control school transportation, taxis and rental cars with driver.

According to the Watchdog, "the actions of the Program Safety Standards -Controls alcohol, traffic control, parking, use of helmets, seat belts, speed and crossing traffic lights- were only implemented in those districts where the Metropolitan police acts". The other jurisdictions "were excluded", i.e., most of the inhabitants of the city.

Given this situation, the report argues that it was necessary to have a patrolman and police personnel sufficient to ensure the safety of those carrying out checks, but "they did not have the support of the Federal Police in operations that were outside of the Communes were the Metropolitan Police resides.”

However, beyond the jurisdictional issues, there was an appearance with fewer results. The auditors found that the Department did not carry out controls to school transport, taxis and rental cars with driver. For these tasks, the control-vehicle motorcycle helmets, documentation, wrought violations and referrals from them in cases where appropriate, the Operational Management had a complement of 18 officers, of whom 14 were auditors and four administrative; they had the participation of agents of the Body of Control of Traffic and Transportation and the Metropolitan Police staff.

On Sunday April 5th of this year, Pagina 12 published an interview with the candidate for Mayor, Gabriela Michetti, in which she mentioned the best and worst of Macri’s administration, on the latter she said: "That he discontinued the road safety policy. We had a very good policy and suddenly, it was discontinued."

On this issue, the audit said that "eventually sporadic alcohol tests were made on school buses," but this happened only when asked by "the parents of students who were going on school field trips.”

Meanwhile, one of the most important strategies to reduce traffic accidents is educational. An important milestone was Law N ° 2297 of March 22, 2007, which approved the program of road safety education in the formal education system of the City. This Act provides for the implementation of these teachings in order to systematize and promote the acquisition of road, safe and supportive practices.

However, the Law "was unregulated." The auditors stated in their work approved in December 2014 that "the absence of regulation hinders the operation of the actions of the Strategic Road Safety Plan, implemented by Decree No. 271 / GCABA / 2007." It notes that the rules required for validity be regulated by the Executive Power "within ninety days of its application." Since its appearance until the date of completion of the field work of the audit more than 1800 days had elapsed.

Educating

The program of awareness and education of road Security Directorate is divided into formal and non-formal.

For the area of formal education, the auditors noted that "activities that had been developed in 2011 and has not executed according to program descriptions of 2012" (Itinerant School, Education open to the community, call for organizations that are concerned with safety and driver education and kindergartens to room three and four years).

For the Itinerant School program, the main reason was the lack of personnel, since the number of trainers from nine to five, but also stressed that "you had mobility to transport materials and trainers."

Regarding road safety education program Track Practice or "Drivers for a day" were other problems: "It was necessary adaptation works and maintenance of track, have classrooms, storage and bathrooms, as well as maintenance and the security that it requires."

The head of the area for elementary school students said "presently only 8 of the 32 existing karts work, and that the track boundaries do not match the reality of the street, lacking space for sidewalks and bike paths. Nor is there a complete kit and clean water to drink on hot days and handouts for students are insufficient. "It added that "there is no cleaning service and chemical toilets, they are not cleaned regularly as necessary are used." Cleaning the bathrooms, the micro classroom and the track is performed by the trainers themselves.

Meanwhile, the number of students sensitized by drivers for a day programs, workshops in High Schools and My First License, "when compared to the universe of students in the field of CABA, had an ineffective, lower incidence than 3% of this population."

Finally, regarding the non-formal area, the AGCBA said no activities were conducted in 2011 and to be set in 2012, as in the case of "training courses for professional drivers of different bus lines are implemented, which aims to minimize the risks and consequences of road "incidents in the city.”

According to the 2012 budget, the activities of the program during this period were the traffic offenders Education and Training courses for drivers group.