The “Road Safety Traffic Light” warns of the lack of cops and ignorance of traffic rules
Spain has a very high risk of road accidents, with factors such as road, human and vehicle condition being three of the keys influencing accident rates.
This is one of the conclusions of the study “The Traffic Light of Mobility”, prepared by the company specialized in road safety Rivekids. According to CEO José Lagunar: “We are at a red light, with an extremely high risk, with a very high risk of road accidents and to date we do not see a single indicator that tells us that this situation is going to reverse.”
The report, which was drawn up on the basis of data registered by bodies such as the DGT, the Ministry of Transport, the Spanish Road Association and the Spanish Association of Guardia Civil, criticizes the existing problems related to the state of the roads, the behavior of drivers and pedestrians, and the general condition of vehicles.
In the first of the sections, the general poor condition of the roads is noticeable. The study found that 10% of roads are in a very bad condition, with a road surface showing the worst condition in the past 20 years. Added to this are the deficiencies identified in the road signs “of which over 374,000 need to be replaced, and we have found that 72% of the reflectors have expired,” says Lagunar. The study also finds that the crash barriers or guardrails have been suspended due to their poor condition “when these passive safety elements are real hangmen for vulnerable road users,” he emphasizes.
As for the Civil Guard’s traffic officers, the report concludes that a significant shortage of troops is detected, “and they have fewer resources and less training than ever”. For example, in 2008 there were more than 10,000 agents, in 2017 there were 8,672 “and today even fewer,” says Lagunar.
According to the secretary of the Spanish Association of the Guardia Civil (AEGC), Fernando García Poves, “it is a situation about which we at the Association have been warning for some time, related to four determining factors endangering road safety : the poor condition of many roads; very old vehicles without proper maintenance; an increase in disobedience to the most basic traffic rules and a decrease in traffic police officers who make safety tasks on public roads more difficult.
García agrees with the report’s conclusions on the importance of the human factor in accidents and points to a lack of knowledge and repeated failure to comply with the main traffic rules. In this sense, it has been established that 74% of traffic casualties are the result of non-compliance with traffic rules. In this section, José Lagunar warns that “pedestrians are also responsible for their own safety on public roads. Neglect, reckless act, intentional violation of the rules or excesses are many factors where the coexistence of roads can endanger road safety. For example, it has been established that 49% of pedestrians who died in traffic accidents did not follow any rule.
It is also discovered that road safety advertising campaigns “don’t connect with people and have a bad result, because they fail to reduce the number of accidents and deaths”.
Other shortcomings are that the measures for obtaining a driving license and its renewal have a wide margin for improvement and demand, and driver training in every facet of life is unregulated and delivered by minority groups. There is a lack of evaluation and follow-up, depending on the will of these groups and not any public administration.
Finally, as regards the «vehicle factor», it is confirmed that 40% of the cars driving on the Spanish roads have not passed the ITV, and that the age of the fleet is very high, with an average of 13 years and 39.6 % of the mobile fleet with more than 15 years, this is 9.7 million.
This age is reflected in the accident rate because, according to data from the Fesvial Road Safety Foundation, at 70 km/h the braking distance of an old car with worn wheels is up to 53% higher than that of the same car with the tires in good condition. In addition, the accidents of old cars have 23% more incidents related to tires and 68% related to braking.
In terms of vehicle factor, the Traffic Light of Road Safety is strongly determined by the condition in which a car is found. The traffic light is red, because in Spain “there is no proper maintenance of the vehicle, proper condition of tires, brakes or suspension,” says Lagunar.
According to the Directorate-General for Traffic, there were 90 fatal accidents in April, killing 99 people, 25 more than in the same month of 2019.
This accident rate occurred in a context of a higher number of trips (+6%); Specifically, 37.6 million long-distance journeys were recorded throughout the month, compared to 35.4 million in April 2019.
In total, there are 76 deaths from accidents that occurred on conventional roads, compared to the 23 recorded on high-capacity roads (motorways or expressways), a common figure.
Depending on the type of accident and according to the latest figures from the DGT, the number of collisions has increased from 38 deaths in April 2019 to 46 this year. The number of exits also increased by 36 deaths, compared to the 26 registered in the month of April 2019.
According to the means of displacement, if the records of April are compared with the same month of 2019, the number of vulnerable deaths has increased (38 compared to 23) and very significantly among motorcycles and pedestrians. Regarding the use of restraint systems, 16 people who died were not wearing seat belts at the time of the accident.
Source: La Verdad
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
