A methodological experience in the training of road safety promoters in Mexico

Abstract

This paper documents an experience in the training of road safety promoters conducted as a trial training workshop of a model intervention to reduce the number of road accidents in the Mexican Road Safety Initiative (Iniciativa Mexicana de Seguridad Vial, IMESEVI). The workshop was planned in four stages: 1) literature review, 2) design, 3) operationalization and 4) monitoring and evaluation. Between 2010 and 2012, eight workshops were held in seven states of the Mexican Republic (Mexico City, Mexico State, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Puebla, Tamaulipas and Veracruz), taught by two specialists in health promotion and transportation engineering, and subsequently, systematized to identify general and specific local or regional characteristics that provided data to customize the intervention plan and teaching materials. The modular implementation was executed using a problem and experience–based learning approach. A reflection–action methodology was emphasized, allowing trainers to use the same teaching tools in their own workshops. The focus of the approach and contents was on technical, pedagogic and health issues, aiming at understanding behaviors leading to risk practices. Even though the workshops promoted the sharing of experiences, thoughts, and questionings, this work has not provided empirical results, since there has been minimal reduction of road accidents.