Over the past ten years, there have been over 100,000 accidents and 150,000 casualties (injured and killed) in speeding crashes
70% of motorists do not believe that fines are solely road safety, while 1.7 million are in favor of decriminalizing speed limits. In addition, 36% support the idea of placing speed cameras only in Accident Concentration Sections (TCA) or at dangerous points.
These data, which are part of the report “Speed, the silent plague”, prepared by Direct Line in collaboration with the Institute of Traffic and Road Safety of the University of Valencia (INTRAS), contrast with reality, as 43 % of motorists usually recognize that they have exceeded the speed limits. In addition, one million drivers confess to having driven more than 200 km/h on interurban roads and another 2.4 million who have done so at more than 100 km/h in the city.
The report focuses on speed as one of the most common and deadly factors in road accidents, to warn about its risks and effects and to make Spanish society aware of the seriousness of certain behaviour.
In the words of Mar Garre, Director General of the Fundación Línea Directa, “speeding violations are a very widespread and risky practice that kills hundreds of people every year on our roads. Therefore, we must be especially careful in view of the imminent Operation Exit to avoid a “euphoria effect” in the first unrestricted summer since 2019.
The UN, in its target to reduce the number of accidents by 50% by 2030, recommends lowering the speed limits on interurban roads by 20 km/h. In this sense, the Fundación Línea Directa and the Institute of Traffic and Road Safety calculated how many lives the measure would save, using the Nilsson power model, a very rigorous and highly efficient calculation system in interurban environments. This takes into account the official data from the DGT, the accidents caused by not respecting the limits and the aggravating nature of the speed in all types of accidents.
The conclusion is very interesting, as a 20 km/h reduction in speed limits compared to the current ones would reduce the number of deaths on interurban roads by 70%, which is equivalent to saving 659 lives per year in Spain. However, the idea of tightening the rules in this area continues to divide public opinion, as not all motorists are in favour. According to the study, 2 in 5 drivers would choose to increase the limits on freeways and freeways because the current ones are “unrealistic” and more than 1 million would remove them immediately.
As for the X-ray of the accident caused by speed, it is possible to distinguish between those on the road and those in the city. On interurban roads, they mainly occur when off-roading on the right-hand side, in the last quarter of the year and on weekends. As for those on urban roads, they tend to happen more in January and frontolateral accidents usually happen as a result of reaching and being run over. In addition, the age of the accident vehicle is striking, above the Spanish average.
The profile of the injured driver is usually a young man (aged 18-34), who is on vacation or in his spare time and wears less helmet or seat belt.
The report also collects Spaniards’ perceptions of speeding rules and their driving habits through a survey of 1,700 people from across the country. One of the most striking conclusions is that only 6% of motorists know the speed limits for cars and motorcycles and only 1% know the speed limits for all types of vehicles.
As for the proportion of motorists exceeding the speed limit, the Fundación Línea Directa survey concludes that 43% of motorists regularly drive above the speed limit and that 7% of Spaniards almost always break the rules in this area. The communities with the most perpetrators are Castilla-La Mancha, La Rioja and Aragon. On the other side are the Canary Islands, the Region of Murcia and the Balearic Islands.
In terms of penalties, 70% of motorists do not believe that fines are solely road safety, while 1.7 million are in favor of decriminalizing speed limits. In addition, 36% support the idea of placing speed cameras only in Accident Concentration Sections (TCA) or at dangerous points.
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.
