The international conference on “Road Safety and Road Transport Professional Training” was attended by some 800 representatives of the public authorities, road transport and training industries from Latin America, including the Under Secretary of Road Transport, Ministry of Federal Planning, Jorge González, the executive director of the National Road Safety Agency, Lic. Felipe Rodríguez Laguens, as well as road safety research experts.

Delegates reviewed road safety in Argentina, Ibero-America and Mercosur and explored ways of concretely improving road safety in Latin America, notably through understanding and addressing the main causes of accidents involving trucks, as well as technology applied to road transport vehicles and control authorities.

Conference delegates declared that on the basis of road safety research conclusions, a three-step approach is necessary to effectively improve road safety:

1. Analysing the main causes of accidents involving heavy commercial vehicles to make informed policy and business decisions;

2. Focusing on the human element by supporting and promoting the training of professional drivers as provided by the IRU Academy and training other road users; and

3. Cooperating with the business community to achieve tangible results.

IRU secretary general, Martin Marmy, stressed: 'For true road transport professionals, every road accident is one too many and the road transport industry supports every measure that effectively improves road safety by targeting the main cause of an accident involving commercial vehicles.'