As part of the long weekend of national holidays, the Seremi MOP, Mauricio Guaita Juantok, met this morning, together with the Seremi de Transportes, Carla Orrego, General Jorge Muñoz Soto, the zone manager of the Carabineros Atacama and the general manager of the concessionaire Valles del Desierto Patricio González and other authorities arrived at the Puerto Viejo toll gate to deliver details of the emergency plan for the Atacama roads.
He Seremi from MOP, Mauricio Guaita Juantok stated: “Today we are at one of our toll booths on the concession route, joining a nationwide campaign around #18Safe. The message we want to convey is to drive responsibly to avoid accidents, in this way: “Not only will they take care of their lives and that of their families, but they will also contribute to accidents to reduce which are the main cause of congestion on our roads.”
Regarding work that may be carried out on the region’s routes, the Seremi MOP, stressed that motorists must be vigilant and alert to road conditions, which will be well signposted. “What we want to avoid are accidents, and this also depends heavily on the behavior of users when it comes to compliance with safety measures, permitted speed and traffic signs, as well as on the preparation of the vehicle, before planning trips, the use of seat belts , the use of seat belts, etc. Mobile phone while driving, today all safety measures are taken to avoid accidents and have happy holidays. At the same time, our police will increase controls to ensure this is adhered to.“.
Carla Orrego, Seremi for Transport and Telecommunications he claimed, “We as the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications have intensified checks on the route and also at intercity and intercity bus terminals across the region. That’s why we’ve been in different parts of the region since last week carrying out this inspection plan. In Atacama we have set the goal of carrying out a total of 120 inspections of intercity and intercity buses and, as always, we want to exceed this number together with the inspectors during these holidays.”
Orrego he added, “We hope that we will have fewer traffic accidents like last year. In 2022, on these dates, good behavior was observed, we only had one death and our goal for this year and the coming years is to have no deaths. However, as you know, it is everyone’s job to prevent these accidents. That’s why I call for self-care: If you drive, don’t drink alcohol or use drugs, we must take responsibility during these national holidays so that we don’t do the same next week: “We mourn the loss of human life.”
Patricio González, general manager of the Valles del Desierto concessionaire he explained, “This year, unlike last year, we expect an increase of about 5% in the total number of vehicles that can pass through the toll plazas, equivalent to 6,000 vehicles per day, and we hope to reach a peak of 1000 in some cases vehicles per hour. We have prepared for toll systems and set up manual booths to allow people to move smoothly, using a 5×2 or 6×1 system depending on the constant traffic volume. We have prepared for these holidays in coordination with the relevant authorities. In addition, we have strengthened our route assistance system for any issues that may arise and hope that all our users have a smooth journey and arrive safely at their destination.”
Martha Palma, Director of the National Service for the Prevention and Rehabilitation of Drug and Alcohol Use stated: “As SENDA, we are sending a preventive message to motorists to avoid road accidents this long weekend, especially where alcohol and other drugs are mixed. Therefore, we invite citizens to celebrate and enjoy these national holidays with great responsibility and avoiding excesses.”
He General Jorge Muñoz Soto, zone chief of the Carabineros Atacama he showed “the work that we are carrying out today in coordination with the other services, in a very close collaboration with the concessionaire, with Concesiones MOP and with SENDA, which also accompanies us and which was part of the preventive inspections. And as we can see, an important part of our staff is already deployed to be able to carry out the verification of documents, alcohol tests and drug tests that the drivers are subjected to. The task is therefore to make this celebration something familiar, calmly and taking into account the traffic conditions, in order to avoid serious accidents.”
“We carry out controls throughout the region. Today we are at the toll booth, where we can expect a greater concentration of the exit flow of vehicles towards the coastal edge and other recurring locations in our region. The same is done in Chañaral. Vallenar and in the Caldera, which is also an important tributary for motorists and visitors to the Atacama region. Our contingent is deployed on the route and also in the city area through the important operation that we carry out with our quadrant plan personnel.” she added General Muñoz
Finally Lorna Bown Valenzuela, Undersecretary of Crime Coordinator said, “One of the tasks we have as undersecretary is to be able to monitor and prevent. That is why we are here today to monitor the various institutions and verify that the vehicles driving on the road comply with the law as established, comply with the regulations and also be able to spread the prevention campaign so that they take responsibility during these national celebrations and thus avoid traffic accidents. Regarding the issue of security, it must also be emphasized that it is very important for the victims of a crime to be able to lodge appropriate complaints also through the official channels of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Carabineros and the PDI in order to disseminate the information. Undersecretary of State for Crime Prevention program “Secure Complaint”, telephone: * 42 42, which is available 24 hours a day, where we can provide criminal files so that the program team can file this complaint with the State Department, which is anonymous.
