Focus on Conventional Roads this Week

All this week, the Guardia Civil traffic department will be leading a focus campaign monitoring conventional roads for traffic infractions and dangerous activities, in an attempt to raise awareness of the fact that 7 out of every 10 traffic related deaths occur on this type of road.

The campaign will run until Sunday the 29th of October, and will be supported through social media by the hashtag #campañacontrol.

Seven out of ten deaths in 2016 in traffic related incidents occurred on interurban roads, particularly on roads that have only one lane in each direction, making them statistically the most dangerous.

For this reason, the DGT launched the campaign that will run until Sunday, with intense surveillance on these roads. According to Gregorio Serrano, the director of the DGT, “this type of intensive campaign has a main objective to draw attention to drivers of the peculiarities that have this type of roads have, including a greater number of points with reduced visibility, the limitation of a single lane to be shared by different road users (vehicles, motorcycles, cyclists, pedestrians …) making driving on these roads significantly different from when driving on motorways or freeways”.

Respect to traffic regulations

During the seven-day campaign, Guardia Civil officers will be supported by colleagues in local and regional police, paying close attention to speed limits, overtaking, driving under the influence of alcohol and / or drugs, the use of helmets, seatbelts and restraint systems, and that the vehicle and driver documentation is valid and present.

In addition to roadside surveillance, the watchful eyes of the DGT helicopters will also be taking to the air, including those equipped with Pegasus radar equipment.

You will be able to monitor the campaign through social media, including Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Instagram, with practical help and advice throughout the week, including images, infographics and more.

Reasons for the Campaign

Some of the reasons that lead the DGT to carry out intensive periodic campaigns on conventional roads are that these roads are the location for the highest number of fatalities on the roads:
Of the 1,810 people killed in a traffic related incidents in 2016, 964 occurred on a conventional road (roads that have only one lane in each direction). To these 964 deaths, we must also add the 3,930 people who were injured and required hospital treatment.
Secondary roads are not considered as safe as those with central reservations as junctions and intersections are normally on the same route and traffic has to cross paths and intersect with the flow.
Of the more than 166,000 kilometers of interurban roads monitored by the Ministry of Development (2015), 149,000 correspond to conventional roads.
The death rate and the severely injured rate show a positive correlation with the age of the vehicle. In the event that the incident occurs on conventional roads, the vehicle age turns out to be a determining factor in the degree of harmfulness of victims.