Madrid
Updated:06/05/2022 17:13h
Save
On March 21, the new Traffic and Road Safety Law came into force and one of the most controversial measures was to prohibit exceeding the maximum speed on any road, even when overtaking. This point was especially criticized, alleging that it would increase the danger on the roads, by extending the time required for maneuvers.
The Director General of Traffic, Peter Navarro, even went so far as to admit that, if their data indicated that the figure was not useful and the accident rate increased, it could be reversed. However, this decision will be made “after evaluating it after the first year of application”.
It’s barely been a month since the new rule went into effect, and it’s hard to tell if drivers are following it or driving the same way they did two months ago.
It is difficult to measure compliance without knowing how many non-compliance fines have been issued.
However, Traffic figures indicate that last April both accidents and deaths increased considerably, with 90 and 99, respectively. For comparison, in 2019, there were 69 accidents, with 74 fatalities.
Of the 99 who lost their lives in April — a month that coincided with Holy Week and the May long weekend — 76 did so on conventional roads and the remaining 23 on motorways and highways. Conventional roads are usually much more dangerous, and overtaking is a risk factor.
Recently, the DGT highlighted in a tweet that “more than 70% of fatalities in accidents occur on conventional roads and overtaking is the leading cause of fatal accidents.”
More than 70% of fatalities in road accidents occur in #ctrasconventionales and the #overtaking is the 1st cause of #accident mortal.
overcome the #velocity for which each route is calculated and designed is a great risk.#ZeroRiskspic.twitter.com/8z4ImK6Oyr
— Dir. Grail Traffic (@DGTes) April 29, 2022
The disaggregated data points to another reality, being the main cause of mortality the exit of the road, with 36 deaths in April. It is difficult, a posteriori, to know if these departures occurred as a result of a dangerous overtaking or due to distractions, another risk factor that the DGT is fighting against.
Head-on collision claimed 27 lives in April. Compared to 2019, the data prior to the outbreak of the health crisis, represents an increase of two victims. Percentage-wise, it is an increase of 8%, but in terms of volume it is practically the same.
The frontal impact, although it is associated with overtaking, barely represents 10% of those killed in accidents occurred during this manoeuvre: 70% are due to the invasion of the lane in the opposite direction. The reasons can be several: excessive speed in a curve, distractions or even sleepiness.
See them
comments