The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT), through its Provincial Headquarters in Cantabria, and the Traffic Sector of the Civil Guard have promoted an information campaign for users of the almost 18,000 motorcycles that each year transport Brittany Ferries ships arriving or departing from Santander.
The government delegate in Cantabria, Ainoa Quiñones, attended this Thursday the launch of this campaign, which has begun with the delivery of information diptychs to the almost 70 motorcyclists who have arrived in Santander on board the ship ‘Pont Aven’ of the British company.
The president of the Port Authority of Santander, Francisco Martín; the general director of Brittany Ferries, Christophe Mathieu; the provincial head of Traffic, José Miguel Tolosa; the commander of the Traffic Sector of the Civil Guard, Rubén Flores; and the director of Brittany Ferries in Spain, Roberto Castilla, have participated in the beginning of this campaign.
All of them have received on the pier next to the maritime station the motorcyclists who have disembarked from the ‘Pont Aven’ and have given him the diptychs of the information campaign, which aims to make British motorcyclists aware of all the rules of circulation in Spain.
Quiñones explained that the DGT and the Civil Traffic Guard have taken this initiative as “a new action to raise awareness among a group of vulnerable users” and that “unfortunately it suffers many accidents with fatal results”.
Thus, he recalled that in 2022 there were 13 deaths in traffic accidents in Cantabria and only one was a motorcycle driver, but “that data does not reflect the usual reality and they show more the data of 2021, with 13 deaths and six of them who were motorcycle users”.
Therefore, the delegate of the Government has pointed out that “everything we do is little to protect the most vulnerable road users and that they are pedestrians, cyclists and users of personal mobility vehicles and, of course, motorcyclists”, and added that this protection “begins because they are well informed”.
At this point, Quiñones has indicated that the diptychs of the campaign promoted by the DGT and the Civil Traffic Guard offer information on the driving license, the elements of protection, the prohibition of driving under the effects of alcohol and drugs, the speed limits, traffic tips and indications in case of suffering a road accident.
The government delegate has highlighted the significant number of British motorcyclists this information campaign can reach as Brittany Ferries transports almost 18,000 motorcycles per year. Specifically, in 2022 the company’s ships to and from Santander transported 17,486 motorcycles, of which 8,311 landed in the Cantabrian capital and 9,175 departed from Santander.
For the beginning of this campaign, more than a thousand diptychs have been printed that the company Brittany Ferries will distribute to all users of motorcycles that board their ships, so Quiñones has thanked “the involvement and collaboration of Brittany Ferries and its directors in the rapid implementation of this campaign whose objectives are to reduce accidents and save lives.”