In 2022, 1,145 lives were lost on Spanish roads in a total of 1,042 traffic accidents. The Spanish Directorate General of Traffic (DGT) studies the circumstances in which these accidents occur and the conclusion is that a high percentage of them have similar characteristics: they are accidents occurring on single carriageway roads, due to lane departures, usually on working days, in which one person dies in 92% of the cases.
The number of fatalities was 4% higher than in 2019 (44 more deaths) and 14% higher than in 2021 (143 more deaths). The number of people hospitalized -4,008 people were admitted to hospital in 2022- represents a decrease of 10% compared to 2019 and an increase of 7% compared to 2021.
Understanding the details of these tragedies can serve as a warning so that we do not repeat this unfortunate pattern:
Where do they happen?
The most common accidents occur on A roads, also known as “conventional roads” in Spain, which usually have only a single carriageway in each direction (73% of the fatalities).
Type of accident?
The lane departure is the mishap that claimed nearly half of the lives (42%). The DGT claims that this type of accident is on the rise as it is directly related to distractions such as the use of cell phones at the wheel.
Type of road user?
A total of 211 victims, in other words 18 percent, were occupants of passenger cars. 37% were vulnerable road users, meaning pedestrians, cyclists or motorcyclists. 71% of the total number of fatalities were drivers, with 79% being men. Around 20% were 65 years of age or older, while 36% were concentrated in the 35-54 age bracket.
When?
56% of the fatalities were recorded on working days (641 deaths), days on which there was also a greater increase in mobility (+4%).
One particular fact that is worth reflecting on is that 25% of the victims killed in cars and vans were not wearing seat belts at the time of the accident, 1% more than in the previous period. Moreover, nine cyclists and five motorcyclists who died were not wearing helmets.
In which geographical areas?
By autonomous communities, with respect to 2019, the number of deaths increased in Castile and Leon (+40), Andalusia (+25), Castile- La Mancha (+15), Murcia (+9), Aragon (+7), Navarra (+5), Cantabria (+4), Asturias (+1), Galicia (+1) and the Canary Islands (+1). There were decreases in the Communities of Madrid (-20), Catalonia (-18) and the Basque Country (-13), La Rioja (-6), Extremadura (-6), and Valencia (-1). The Balearic Islands experienced neither an increase or decrease compared to 2019. No deaths were registered in Ceuta and Melilla.
The statistics continue to show that there are too many deaths and too many serious injuries on the road. Too much suffering that could be avoided.
All the data refers to accidents that occurred on the road and over the entire 24-hour period.
