WEEK spoke with the representative to the Chamber, Emeterio Montes, of the Conservative Party for the department of Bolívar, who was a rapporteur of the project approved in the Congress of the Republic and with which a change in speed limits was achieved within the cities , according to him an achievement to minimize deaths on municipal and national roads.
The official figures of the National Road Safety Agency reflect the great problem, only in 2021 7,000 people died and 16,000 more were injured. According to the calculations given in the bill, for every 100,000 inhabitants seven die due to traffic accidents. And the figures are on the rise, according to Montes.
Article 106 of the National Traffic Code, or Law 769 of 2002, will be modified, to make changes to the speed limits on national roads, mainly. In all the cities of Colombia the allowed speed will be 50 kilometers per hour as a maximum limit. This rule is applied to any type of vehicle, public or private. Of course, in school and residential areas the limit remains at 30 kilometers per hour.
On highways, the maximum speed for private cars is set at 90 k/h, while public cars for no reason may exceed the 1980s. On national roads with dual carriageways, in sections that do not have a pedestrian crossing, private cars are allowed to reach a maximum speed of 120 km/h. “With the bill, what is intended is to establish greater controls, greater rigor to promote road safety, with the aim of favoring the less favored”, indicated the congressman.
Montes pointed out that with these measures, people who move on motorcycles, bicycles and on foot will stop contributing such high figures as victims of traffic accidents. Besides, the health and safety system is protected, since it bets on reducing the fraud that it faces is Compulsory Traffic Accident Insurance, SOATwhich is being used to cover other medical care.
The project clarifies that the admiring authorities of each region, both municipal and departmental, will set the limits according to the needs of each sector, taking into account different factors, including: “vehicular traffic, environmental conditions, road infrastructure, road conditions, visibilitythe specifications of the road, the vulnerable users, the use of the land and the number of deaths and injuries”.
The representative to the Chamber insists that “All the articles of the bill are aimed at giving a safe approach to road safety measures. These speed limits may be increased depending on the studies of the governing body of the matter”.
He explained that now road infrastructure designs must consider not only the vehicular issue, but also human error that affects the most vulnerable viable actors. Skateboards and electric bicycles or those that use gasoline, They indicate that you cannot drive faster than 40 kilometers per hour.
The project was approved in the fourth debate with 116 votes in favor and 3 against, now comes the conciliation between the Senate and the Chamber and later the presidential sanction will be given, Méndez considers that it is only a matter of months before it becomes a law of the republic .