Fewer accidents and deaths on the roads in the first four months of the year compared to 2020

 

Lisbon, 08 Jul 2021 (Lusa) – In the first four months of the year, 6,515 accidents with victims and 74 fatalities were registered, 1,128 fewer and 24 fewer, respectively, than in the same period last year, according to a report released today.

According to the accident report and inspection of the National Road Safety Authority (ANSR) for the first four months of the year (in a covid-19 pandemic and in a state of emergency), 6,515 accidents with victims were registered in mainland Portugal. which resulted in 74 deaths, 444 serious injuries and 7,360 light injuries.

ANSR data show an improvement in the main accident indicators, compared to the same period of 2010: there were 1,128 fewer accidents with victims (-14.8%), 24 fewer fatalities (-24.5%) less 26 serious injuries (-5.5%) and less than 1,643 minor injuries (-18.2%).

“If we compare with the average period of the previous five years (2016 to 2020), there was an improvement with: 32.6% less accidents, 42.7% less fatalities, less 22.9% of serious injuries and less 36.6% of minor injuries”, is mentioned in the report.

Most of the accidents were due to collisions (51.1% of accidents with victims), despite having been responsible for only 32.4% of fatal victims.

With regard to the type of road, the report indicates that on streets (67.0% of all accidents) fatalities decreased by 13.2%, while serious injuries increased by 14.6%. On national roads, where 16.5% of accidents occurred, there were decreases of 32.3% and 28.9%, respectively, in fatalities and serious injuries.

According to the report, 67.6% of all fatalities were drivers, 6.8% passengers and 25.7% were pedestrians.

“In terms of year-on-year variation, there was a 70.6% reduction in fatalities with a passenger profile, with a decrease of 17.4% in the case of pedestrians and 13.8 in fatal victims. % in drivers, corresponding to 12 fewer, four fewer and eight fewer fatalities than in 2020, in each case”, is referred to in the document.

In relation to the category of vehicle involved in accidents, light vehicles constituted 71.5% of the total, with a reduction of 18.3% compared to the same period of the previous year, followed by a reduction of 15.5% for heavy vehicles and 11. 2% of mopeds and motorcycles.

Between January and April, 54.1% of the number of fatalities was registered on the road network under the responsibility of six infrastructure managers: Infrastructures of Portugal (32.4%), Brisa (5.4%) and municipalities of Alcobaça, Santa Maria da Feira, Sintra and Vila Nova de Gaia (4.1% for each).

The report also mentions that 36.2 million vehicles were inspected, either in person or by means of automatic inspection, with a decrease of 5.8% compared to the same period in 2020.

“This difference was a reflection of a 0.6% reduction in inspection by the GNR and PSP together, as well as a 6.6% reduction in the SINCRO radar system managed by ANSR, a consequence of the reduction in circulation due to the mandatory confinement,” according to the report.

In these actions, 356.6 thousand infractions were detected, which represents a decrease of 21.2% compared to the same period of the previous year. The infraction rate (total number of infractions/total vehicles inspected) was 0.99%, a reduction of 16.4% compared to the 1.18% rate registered in 2020.

Regarding the typology of infractions, 55.9% of the total registered in this period was related to speeding.

According to the report, there was a decrease in some types of infractions, highlighting the reduction in transgressions for alcohol consumption above the legal limit (-44.2%) and the reduction for speeding (-30.3% ).

However, there was an increase in infractions due to the absence of mandatory periodic inspection (+75.8%), non-use of seat belts (+29.5%), use of mobile phones (+20.1%) and for not using restraint systems (+28.4%).

As for speeding, the offense rate (total number of speeding offenses/vehicles monitored by radar) decreased by 25.8%, from 0.8% between January and April to 0.6% recorded in the same period of the previous year.

With regard to driving under the influence of alcohol, between January and April, 488.0 thousand drivers underwent the test, which represents an increase of 10.4% compared to 2020, despite the rate of violation (total number of offenses for alcohol tests performed) has decreased by 49.4%, from 1.6% in the first four months of 2020 to 0.8% in the same period of 2021.

Road crime, measured in the total number of arrests, increased by 14.7% compared to the same period in 2020, reaching 7.5 thousand drivers.

More than half of the arrests (54.5%) were due to the lack of legal license to drive, with an increase of 76.9% in these cases, compared to that verified between January and April 2020.

As for the point license system, since its entry into force until the end of April 2021, 1,450 drivers had their driver’s license revoked and 263,800 drivers lost points in their driver’s license.