The FRED team is in Bridgetown, the capital of the Caribbean island of Barbados, to start activities for a road safety technical assistance under the “Road Rehabilitation and Improving Connectivity of Road Infrastructure” project funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Technical assistance is very challenging and comprises multiple objectives covering all pillars of road safety:
- map the roles and responsibilities (legal and administrative) of road safety stakeholders
- review current data collection, storage and analysis systems and make recommendations for its improvement (data includes new vehicle safety data, crash data, road user complaints, etc.)
- review existing vehicle standards and propose updates
- estimate the annual cost of road crashes to the Barbados economy and create an action plan for crash prevention and fatal and serious injury reduction with an appropriate budget
- create a framework of engagement and action for appropriate traffic calming in residential and mixed-use neighbourhoods
- create guidance, training and instruction documents
- develop a policy, Strategic Action Plan and Annual Budget for road safety
- procure and establish a system for the collection and storage of road crash data, GIS based, allow queries and standard reports
This project consolidates the presence in the Caribbean area and places FRED at the forefront of road safety consultants in the region.
We recall that FRED activities are still ongoing in Antigua and Barbuda. The communication strategy for raising public awareness on seat belt use is being finalised and the communication campaign will be launched soon.
