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Spain has been the country in Europe in which deaths in traffic accidents have fallen the most this century. The latest report from the

European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) indicates that, between 2001 and 2020, the accident rate on Spanish roads fell from 5,517 victims to 1,370.

That is, 75.2% less, a record that only Lithuania equals and one tenth better than Latvia. In the same period, the accident rate in the Old Continent fell by 63.5%, from 51,483 deaths to 18,844.

This behavior has allowed that,

from being one of the large countries with the worst results, we have the lowest absolute data.

And if we were well above the European average in deaths per million inhabitants, now we are well below (28.9 versus 42.3)

.

In this field, the ideal data would be to relate the accident rate with the millions of kilometers traveled by all vehicles.

No source offers it.

The factors that explain it

But, what does this evolution respond to? There are known factors.

On the one hand, the emergence of the points card, a formula exported from France in 2006

. Added to this was the

2009 reform of the Penal Code, which made many offenses a crime.

Especially, the higher rates of breathalyzer and the great excesses of speed, whose persecution has been in these two decades one of the crusades of Traffic.

To these elements should be added the collaboration of drivers, road improvements and vehicle safety.

But also the statistical change that was introduced in 2011. Then, with María Seguí at the head of the DGT, the victims at 30 days began to be counted through the real hospital follow-up

, and not applying a corrective factor to the data of the deceased in the act or in the next 24 hours, as was done for decades.

The modification approved us with Europe and resulted in fewer deaths and more injuries.

But, really.

slowdown and rebound since 2013

Evolution also masks troubling facts.

For example, the unfortunate reform of 2015 that decriminalized many deadly outrages; or that, for a long time, it did not matter to kill one or several people in an accident caused by negligence or by being drunk.

The culprit got very few years in jail, four at the most.

Both situations have been corrected, which will be more difficult with the trend shown by the loss ratio itself.

Because first there was a slowdown starting in 2013, which was followed by a rebound in deaths since 2016 to, once again, stabilize around 1,800 victims.

In this sense, the data for 2020 (contaminated by the pandemic) are useless and it will be those for 2021 that shed a little more light.

Until August 18, 618 deaths have been recorded, which are 52 fewer than those on the same date in 2019. But at Easter, the worst data in five years was recorded.

New measures underway

To set the course, scooters were regulated in January and in May the speed reduction to 30 km / h in the city came into force, the great workhorse of accidents in the future.

With the summer, more radars and drones have arrived to police and fine.

Meanwhile, it is expected that before the end of the year

the measures that toughen the card by points -use of the mobile or not use the seatbelt-

and the controversial abolition of the rule that allows the speed to be exceeded by 20 km / h when overtaking will come into force. on the highway.

Road Safety Education will continue to be restricted to a few classes at school, to the training of the driving school and to the improvement courses, still to be defined, that each one wants to give.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

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