Alicante Road Safety Figures Worsen

Road traffic incident statistics across the Alicante have worsened in the first 8 months of the year, according to the latest data released by the DGT.

On the inter-city road network 28 people have lost their lives so far this year, representing an increase of 27.3% over the same period last year. Approximately 40% of deaths on main roads are from the more vulnerable road user group, including motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians.

The number of injury incidents recorded up until the 29^th of August was 2,711, a 6.1% increase over the same period of last year when 2,555 casualties were counted. Despite the increasing protection that designers and manufacturers install in vehicles, there has been a staggering 45% increase in the number of serious injuries on the roads, whereas minor injuries have decreased by 0.2%.

One road which has carried the highest incident rate across the province is the N-332, where more people have lost their lives in the first 8 months of the year than any other road across Alicante, with 5 people losing their lives and 3 being seriously injured.

The A-31, which runs from Alicante to Madrid, is one of the high capacity routes from Alicante which has suffered twice the national average traffic intensity, mainly in the Petrer area, and has seen 4 deaths and 4 people seriously injured.

The A-7 motorway has seen 4 people lose their lives as a result of the deadly truck crash near Elche where a truck came over the central reservation and collided with two cars coming in the opposite direction. The most likely cause of that deadly crash likely to be a distracted driver.

It is believed that there is a two point solution to reducing the number of road traffic incidents. The first is through an estimated 79,000 euro per kilometre of maintenance and investment, the second being through driver awareness of the dangers of the three most popular contributors to road traffic collisions, inappropriate speed, alcohol or drugs, and distractions. Driver awareness and responsibility is key to reducing the number of incidents and thus reducing the number of fatalities and casualties.