The DGT warns about the effect of heat on the road after the increase in deaths this July

by time news

This July, deaths on the roads increased by 12% compared to the figures for the same period in 2019. According to the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT), these figures rise to 131 deaths and the agency attributes this increase to heat waves , since this factor decreases attention and reaction capacity.

“Heat is a factor that affects and affects. We make mistakes in the heat, and mistakes on the road, behind the wheel, result in accidents”, explained the director general of the DGT, Pere Navarro, in an interview on the channel ’24 Horas’ collected by EP.

Specifically, 14 more people have died in the month of July compared to 2019, the year before the pandemic, with respect to which displacements have increased by 5%. «2,124 deaths due to heat wave and 131 in traffic accidents. I think the figures speak for themselves », he stressed. I think the figures speak for themselves,” he stressed.

Regarding the Law on Traffic and Road Safety, which came into force last March, Navarro has pointed out that messages on road safety need to be simple. “If there is a speed limit, there is a speed limit. Exceptions kill the credibility of the rule », he commented.

The general director of the DGT has also recalled that in this case the economic amount of the sanctions has not been touched. “We were evaluating it, but the country is not here to increase it. Also, road safety is doing reasonably well, so it doesn’t make sense to do it now either,” he explained.

Campaigns and measures for the long term

When asked about the prevention campaigns, Navarro has emphasized that the campaigns have to be accompanied by measures to be effective in the long term, since otherwise, they are only reduced in the following six months and not in the following .

“They tell us that they are very harsh, but the reality is much harsher. Sometimes you have to draw attention tothe drama behind the accidents”, he pointed out.

Navarro added that you have to pay close attention if there is a breakdown and it is necessary to get out of the car on motorways and dual carriageways, since in the last three years 40 people have died in accidents in these circumstances. “Don’t go down on the traffic side,” he stressed.

He has also taken the opportunity to remind drivers of their responsibility at the wheel before the celebration of patron saint festivities in the coming days and has stressed that people who have drunk should not be allowed to drive.

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