The roads claimed five victims a day in 2023 | Spain

Highways and urban roads claimed five fatalities a day last year, according to the Annual Road Accident Report of the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT). A total of 1,806 people died in the 101,306 traffic accidents recorded throughout Spain. This represents a 3% increase in deaths, in a year in which the historical record for long-distance trips was broken, with 438.78 million, 2% more than in 2022. Motorcyclists and accidents on the roads interurban roads are at the head of the black list of deaths. This is the detailed analysis of the report:

1,806, consolidated figure. On January 4, the DGT presented the death toll on the roads and gave a figure of 1,145 deaths. This data referred only to people killed on the roads, while that included in the annual report adds fatalities in urban areas and those that occurred up to 30 days after the road accident, as stated in European regulations. To prepare this report it is necessary to collect data from all local police and city councils. Spain has 38 deaths per million inhabitants, which is eight points below the average rate of the countries of the European Union (46) and the ninth in the entire EU behind countries such as Sweden (22), Denmark (27) and Malta (30), among others.

More deaths on the roads. Interurban roads claimed the most lives in 2023 (1,288 people) compared to urban roads (518). The latter recorded 65% of the accidents, 29% of the deaths and 53% of the hospitalized injured. Conventional roads – a single lane in each direction of travel – registered 943 victims and highways and highways, 345. The greatest increases in deaths have occurred in Castilla y León (31 more deaths), Castilla-La Mancha (30) and Extremadura (20), while the greatest decreases have been recorded in the Valencian Community (minus 23), the Community of Madrid (minus 22) and Catalonia (minus 16).

Passenger cars, in the lead. Tourism is the means of transport in which the most people died in 2023, with 703 deaths and 39% of the total. Motorcycles and mopeds followed with 485 deaths, of which 70% occurred on interurban roads. Added to this are 90 cyclists – 10 more cases than in 2022 – and 10 users of the so-called Personal Mobility Vehicles (VMP; scooters and similar). A total of 353 pedestrians (20%) lost their lives last year, the vast majority on urban roads (223) compared to interurban roads (130).

More vehicles. The vehicle fleet has grown by 1% in the last year, with 365,556 more units. It is made up in a high percentage of passenger cars (more than 25 million, 68%), followed by trucks and vans (5.1 million; 14%) and motorcycles (4.2; 11%). According to the annual report, vehicles less than 15 years old represent 51% of the total. If the figure is lowered to less than 25 years, it reaches 85% of the total. Passenger cars have an average age of 12 years; motorcycles, 11, and buses, 10.

Men, 78%. Of the 1,806 deaths, 1,417 were men (78%) and 389 were women (22%). The age group with the highest number of fatalities is those between 45 and 54 years old (312; 17%) and those between 35 and 44 years old (249; 14%). The group with the lowest mortality is those under 14 years of age, with 30 people and 2%. Drivers represent two out of every three deaths, with 1,178 deaths, the vast majority on interurban roads (921). In 2023 there were 27.9 million drivers in Spain, which represents 683 per 1,000 inhabitants. A total of 275 passengers lost their lives, mostly on the roads (237, 86%).

Too many distractions. The factor that has been recorded the most in accidents is distraction, present in 409 cases, 30%. Another worrying fact for the DGT is that 6% of those who died in a motorcycle accident were not wearing a helmet, which is added to the fact that 30% of users who died on urban roads did not use this safety measure either. The situation is even more worrying in the use of seat belts in cars and vans: 34% of those killed in urban areas and 24% on roads did not have them fastened. These figures are very similar to previous years, according to the DGT.

A lot of alcohol and a lot of drugs. 28% of the deceased drivers who were tested for breathalyzer (200 in total) gave a positive result, according to the report. The most frequent blood level on interurban roads was between 1.5 and 2 grams of alcohol per liter of blood (39 people), when the legal limit is 0.3. In the urban area, this most common rate reached between 2 and 2.5 grams per liter. The drug test carried out on 78% of the deceased drivers showed that 19% of this group (115) had consumed some narcotic drug. The most common was cocaine (59%). Behind them are cannabis (35%), amphetamines (10%) and opiates (3%). A notable fact is that 38% of the deceased drivers who were tested for drugs and alcohol tested positive in both tests, with 154 cases.

The Traffic Group of the Civil Guard carried out 6.7 million alcohol tests last year, which is 15% more than in 2022. Of the 5.6 million carried out in preventive controls, 1.2% were positive . It also carried out 101,927 drug tests. In the preventive controls, 56% of the 79,357 carried out also ended with complaints for the drivers. During 2023, the DGT filed 5,161,544 complaints, of which 64% were for speeding. In addition to those signed by the Civil Guard, those of fixed radars, section radars and helicopters are counted.

The road exits. This type of accident is the one that has claimed the most lives in 2023, with 642 deaths. Then there are pedestrian collisions (334), frontal collisions (263) and lateral and frontal-lateral collisions (249). The lowest incidence occurs in rollovers (20) and rear and multiple collisions (149). August, with the majority of people on vacation and the resulting increase in travel, is the month with the highest number of deaths (10%). On the opposite part of the table are March and May, with 7% each. The most lethal days are Saturdays and Sundays. By hour, the highest number of deaths occurred between 8:00 a.m. and 7:59 p.m. (1,133 victims) compared to the rest of the day (673).

166,000 kilometers of roads. The sum of all interurban roads shows that Spain has 166,000 kilometers of road, according to 2022 data – the latest available. This is four times the equatorial circumference (about 40,000 kilometers). Of them, 90% belong to conventional roads, the predominant ones, with 148,340 kilometers.