The General Directorate of Traffic carried out a surveillance and control campaign focused on speed between 17 and 23 April, during which agents of the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard of Asturias established 98 speed control points in which a total of 19,604 vehicles were controlled.
These figures represent an increase in 42 checkpoints and 8,896 more controlled vehicles compared to the last campaign carried out in July last year.
Of the total number of vehicles controlled, 872 drivers (4.4%) were reported for driving at a speed higher than the permitted speed. If we consider the type of road, 60% of those reported (521 drivers) were on conventional roads, 316 on motorways or motorways and 35 on crossings.
In the criminal sphere, one of the reported drivers committed a crime against road safety and were brought before the courts for exceeding the speed allowed on the road by more than 80 km/h, as stated in the Criminal Code.
To these results, we must add the controls that the different local police carried out in their area of competence, a very important collaboration since, in this way, the message of respect for the established speed limits is unified, regardless of the route through which it is circulated. The municipalities of Aller, Avilés, Cangas de Onís, Gijón, Langreo, Oviedo and Tineo have reported results in Asturias.
SPEED, A SHARED INTERNATIONAL CONCERN
The Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 proposes an integrated safe system approach that identifies the safe use of roads as a fundamental pillar to contribute to the goal of halving the number of fatalities by the end of the decade.
Among the recommended measures in relation to the safe use of roads is “enacting and enforcing road safety legislation”, in particular, by establishing “maximum speed limits taking into account the type and function of transit roads”.
For its part, the framework of the road safety policy of the European Union 2021-2030: Next steps toward “Vision Zero” assumes that “about one-third of fatal accidents are due (in part) to excessive or inappropriate speed” and that the risk of being involved in a traffic accident increases by 12.8 times when driving too fast. In addition, it cites the study of the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) which has calculated that if average speeds fell by only 1 km/h on all roads in the European Union, it is estimated that 2,200 road deaths could be prevented each year.
It has been proven that speed not only affects the risk of being involved in a traffic accident, but also that, the faster it will be, the more difficult it will be to react in time to prevent the accident and the more serious the injuries produced as a result of it will be.
REMEMBERING THE RULES
The Traffic and Road Safety Act and the General Traffic Regulations set the regulations applicable to generic and specific speed limits.
Failure to comply with these rules is typified as a serious or very serious infringement, sanctioned with fines of 100 to 600 euros and the withdrawal of between 2 and 6 points.