The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT), through its Provincial Headquarters in Cantabria, and the Traffic Sector of the Civil Guard, have today launched an information campaign aimed at the approximately 20,000 British motorcyclists who will use this year the Brittany Ferries lines with arrival and departure from Santander.
The government delegate in Cantabria, Eugenia Gómez de Diego, attended this Thursday the launch of this campaign, which has begun with the delivery of information diptychs to the almost 160 motorcyclists who have arrived in the Cantabrian capital on board the ship ‘Pont Aven’ of the British company.
The provincial head of Traffic, José Miguel Tolosa; the commander of the Traffic Sector of the Civil Guard, Rubén Flores; the director of Brittany Ferries in Spain, Roberto Castilla, and the president of the Port Authority of Santander, César Díaz, have participated in the beginning of this campaign.
According to Gómez de Diego, in recent years, there has been a notable increase in the number of motorcycles that disembark in Santander through the ships of Brittany Ferries. In fact, it is estimated that around 20,000 British motorcyclists pass through the Cantabrian port this year, which is 10% more than the previous one (18,000).
Through this campaign, the aim is to inform British motorcyclists about the specific traffic regulations of Spain, with special emphasis on aspects such as the regulations on speed limits, alcohol and drug consumption at the wheel, helmet use and safe driving.
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 Gómez de Diego has thanked “the involvement and collaboration of Brittany Ferries and its directors.”
Increase in accident
This initiative is part of the set of measures and actions that the DGT, through the Provincial Headquarters, and the Traffic Section of the Civil Guard are carrying out to promote safer road behaviors among motorists and thus reduce accidents.
The road accident data in recent years highlight the need to intensify awareness measures among motorcyclists. Between 2018 and 2023, a total of 1,333 motorcycle accidents have been recorded on the Cantabrian roads, with a sad balance of 19 deaths and 187 serious injuries.
Especially worrying is the increase in the number of accidents in the last two years, when the 300 annual accidents have been exceeded, tripling the figures for 2019, 2020 and 2021.
“What we want with this type of preventive action is to raise awareness to prevent accidents, so that motorcycle users keep their attention while driving, do not lower their guard, because an oversight can be fatal; so that they avoid aggressive driving and take care of their safety equipment,” said the government delegate.
In this context, last May, between 6 and 12, the DGT and the Civil Traffic Guard carried out an autonomous motorcycle control campaign, resulting in 43 drivers reported on the 1,701 inspected.