Safe School Environment in Lo Espejo

The project aims to improve and pedestrianize Pasaje Pegaso to increase road safety around the Hernán Olguín Maibee School and the Weñi Chempen Kindergarten.

The "Improvement of School Road Environments" project, which arises from a public-private partnership between the Municipality of Lo Espejo, the Automóvil Club de Chile, Ciudad Emergente, and Conaset, seeks to strengthen road safety in the school environment. This is achieved by implementing measures proposed for a safe school environment based on the Star Rating for Schools methodology combined with tactical urbanism methods developed and validated by Ciudad Emergente.

Pasaje Pegaso (the main access road to Hernán Olguín Maibee School) was intervened with playful floor painting, furniture installation, and signage to improve the safety of pedestrians, students, parents, and caregivers.

The inauguration took place on Pasaje Pegaso in Lo Espejo, where a tour of the intervention was conducted with Mayor Javiera Reyes, students from Hernán Olguín Maibee School, Weñi Chempen Kindergarten, and various authorities involved in the project.

Protecting children in their school environments is crucial. The statistics of pedestrian accidents and road incidents support this. Worldwide, injuries from road traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5 to 29. It is estimated that 500 children die daily in avoidable traffic accidents, one person dies every 24 seconds on the roads, and every 4 minutes a child is involved in an accident.

For Automóvil Club de Chile, these accidents are largely preventable, and efforts are underway to reduce these statistics.

Painting a street, installing furniture, and involving the school community were key processes for helping students, parents, caregivers, and teachers understand and take ownership of the space. Therefore, various workshops were also organized in the passage to promote an understanding of the tactics in this newly transformed public space and its use as an educational tool.

According to measurements taken by Ciudad Emergente around the Hernán Olguín Maibee School, when asked "What should a safe school environment look like?" 46.67% believe it should have more Carabineros and enforcement, 26.67% say it should involve looking after the students, and 20% believe it should be with recovered public spaces.

"Children are the most vulnerable people on the streets of the city, and their safety should come first. This project seeks to improve road safety by transforming the school environment, inviting not only children to walk and play safely in the street, but also involving their families, caregivers, and the entire community. When we transform the city with a focus on children, we make the city safer for everyone," comments Javier Vergara, Executive Director of Ciudad Emergente.

Children deserve a safe space that is also pleasant to use when arriving or leaving school. This type of project helps strengthen the importance of road safety in school contexts.

"Improving people's mobility by creating safer environments improves their quality of life. This is what drives us as a Government and what we do at Conaset and the Ministry of Transport, by promoting this virtuous partnership between the state, companies, and private organizations to avoid road accidents in the school and kindergarten surroundings. Our vision is to reach zero traffic deaths by creating a safe road system. Pedestrians are the most vulnerable and exposed users on the streets, and generating interventions that protect them is one of the lines of work we strongly support," said Karina Muñoz, Executive Secretary of Conaset.

Along with the intervention and project, a diversion plan was implemented, and the Pasaje Pegaso was made pedestrian-friendly, creating an open, comfortable, and protected space for students and their caregivers to move through a safe school environment.