The increase in alcohol and drug consumption, speed and collisions, a higher accident rate among motorcyclists and transport professionals and a still incomprehensible disregard for safety elements on the part of some users have marked a fatal start to the year on the roads of Castile and Leon. The victims in the first quarter exceeded those of the same period last year by thirty percent. The DGT and the Civil Guard decided to put an end to an “unaffordable” escalation by reinforcing personnel, radars and controls. In mid-September, after a summer in which the asphalt hardened its lethality and in a scenario of “more travel”, the the balance is devastatingMore than a hundred souls were taken, 21 percent more than at this time of year in 2023 – that year ended in twelve months with 119 deaths.
A road departure on the afternoon of January 2 at kilometer 38 of the N-610, in Villafrades de Campos (Segovia), was the first fatal accident of the year. Health workers were only able to confirm the death of one man after the alert was received by 112. Dozens of other people were added to his name throughout the year, up to 103 deaths in a road accident.
Up to 26 of them died in this first quarter in which the sad reality imposed a shock plan to stop the increase in accidents, which were higher on weekends and that were reinforced on motorways and highways, where fatal accidents are less frequent. The data were in line with those of the whole country and in the following months of April and May they moderated, but already at the gates of summer there were 58 people killed on the roads, 20 percent more than in the same period of the year. . previous. Then came the special traffic operations, with the forecast of 9.4 million trips – they were more – in Castilla y León throughout the year. summer and it cost a life every two days on the asphalt of the Community and causes two serious injuries every 72 hours.
The summer accident rate, although higher than that of 2023 – which had recorded the lowest figures since 1960 – remains within the average of the last decade. Thirty lives were lost on the road in a context where long-distance travel exceeded forecasts with more than 11 million movements, 177,000 trips per day. The most common type of accident is run-offs and head-on collisions, with the latter increasing significantly. The highest number of deaths was concentrated in the 45-54 age group.
Among the aspects that mark a certain distance from last year, there is a higher ratio of victims per accident. In fact, in recent weeks, one of the most significant aspects is the succession of cases with several victimssuch as the one recorded on September 16 on the N-VI near the Leonese municipality of Carracedelo in which three workers aged 29, 49 and 43 from a painting company in A Coruña died after the head-on collision of the van in which they were traveling. with a truck. Before this accident, another accident had also been recorded at the beginning of the month with two young people dead in Morales del Vino and a few days later, two motorcyclists died, colliding in Navalmoral (Ávila).
These latter users are precisely the vulnerable group – which also includes pedestrians and cyclists – with the most deaths, with a total of 20 so far this year. Two-wheel enthusiasts are responsible for two out of ten road deaths, a much higher percentage than twenty years ago, when bikers They represented about 14 percent. In 2023, 21 died.
Zamora and Leon, those who
According to the provinces, the evolution of accidents has been uneven. On the one hand, in four of them they have decreased. Thus, Burgos accumulates eleven (three less), Salamanca seven (-2) and Soria eight (-3). In Segovia they remain at five and in Valladolid at seven. In the rest, the number of deaths by accident has increased. In Ávila there are fourteen victims (five more), in Palencia seven (compared to zero last year) and Zamora with 19 (+9) and León with 25 (+6) are the most affected.
Last weekend there were at least three accidents that required assistance. The first ended on Friday afternoon with a motorcyclist evacuated by helicopter from the LE-164, in Puente de Domingo Flórez (León); the second, on Saturday, with a man dead and another injured after the collision of two passenger cars on the VA-140 in Esguevillas de Esgueva; and the third, yesterday, in Tornadizos de Ávila, after two motorcyclists fell, one seriously. This is the end of a tragic year with 103 souls stolen along the way, plus 46 hospitalizedaccording to the latest data from the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT).
