• The Government delegate in Castilla y León, Nicanor Sen, has chaired the Autonomous Traffic Commission in which it has been reported on the 117 fatal accidents that were recorded last year on the roads of the Community with 119 people deceased • The province of León, with 25 deaths, was the one that showed the blackest balance with an increase of 78% compared to the figures of 2022 • More than 50% of the fatal victims in the province of Ávila were vulnerable users - motorcyclists, cyclists and/or pedestrians -

April 17, 2024. The Government delegate in Castilla y León, Nicanor Sen, chaired on Wednesday the Autonomous Commission of Traffic, Road Safety and Sustainable Mobility in which, in addition to reporting a decrease in the number of fatalities on the roads of the Community during the past year, has also shown his great concern for the upward trend that is being recorded in the first months of this year, with seven people more dead than in the same period of the previous year.

Sen believes that this data makes it necessary to increase surveillance measures and awareness campaigns on the risks involved in the road and on the importance of respecting the rules. “It is our duty to strengthen the means at our disposal to reduce road deaths as much as possible,” said the delegate.

In relation to the figures for the past year 2023, the Commission has noted a 12.7% reduction in fatal accidents on Community roads, which resulted in 119 deaths, 17 fewer than in 2022, in 107 fatal accidents (-11.57%). However, as pointed out by the autonomous coordinator of the DGT in Castilla y León, Inmaculada Matías, it is necessary to link these data with the fact that the immediately previous exercise was “especially black on our roads”.

While in all the provinces the figures were reduced compared to 2022, in León and Soria the trend was the opposite. The first, with 25 deaths on its roads, 78% more, leading the mortality rate in the Community, and in Soria, with an increase of two fatalities, until 16.

Burgos, despite being the second province with the most deaths on the road (18), was one of the seven that scored a descent with four less as well as Salamanca, one less (13); Zamora, five less (12); Valladolid, seven less (11); Ávila, four less (11); Segovia, three less (11), and Palencia, with six less (2).

“21% of the fatalities recorded by Castilla y León in 2023 have been recorded on Leonese roads. We need to analyse why and increase surveillance and awareness-raising measures, as well as highlighting the main causes of accidents in each territory,” said Sen.

Ninety per cent of the accidents resulted in a fatality, with the accident recorded in Ceguilla (Segovia) on 23 October 2023 being the most serious recorded accident in the Community, with four deaths - the driver and three passengers - in a frontal collision between a passenger car and a lorry, with distraction as a concurrent factor.

FACTORS

59 people lost their lives in accidents in which distraction was the cause. Inadequate speed left 17 fatalities and fatigue and/or sleep 11. As for the type of road, the intercities ended up with 92 deaths, while on high-capacity roads 27 people lost their lives.

The road departure is the most frequent type of road accident recorded in Castilla y León, reaching 62 deaths, followed by the frontal collision (27). Compared to 2022, the decrease in the number of deaths in side collision accidents (12) stands out by 40%.

In terms of age, the deaths are mainly concentrated in the 45 to 54 age group, with a total of 37 victims, followed by the 55 to 64 age group (21). The 15 to 24-year-old and 65 to 74-year-old bands recorded 12 deaths each. 76% were men.

VEHICLE

As for the type of vehicle in which the mortal victims traveled, 56% (67) did so in tourism, eight in a truck and six in a van. Vulnerable users accounted for 29 per cent of those killed (35), of whom 21 were riding motorcycles, eight were pedestrians, four cyclists and two were riding mopeds. At this point, the high rate of vulnerable victims was highlighted in the province of Ávila, which represents more than 50% of deaths on the roads.

As for pedestrians, 6 of the fatalities were recorded on conventional roads, and two of them (Burgos and León) on motorways.

On the other hand, León was the province that had to mourn the most deceased motorists with five, followed by Ávila, 4; Burgos, Salamanca and Valladolid, 3 in each; and Soria and Zamora, both with 1.

SECURITY SYSTEMS

The meeting highlighted as particularly worrying the lack of use of the different safety devices detected in moral disasters, especially with regard to the Child Restraint System.

9% of the deceased drivers were not wearing their seat belts and only one of the six deceased pedestrians required to wear the reflective vest was wearing it.

For their part, 100% of the deceased motorists, cyclists and cyclists were wearing the case.

August, September and October were the months that recorded the highest number of fatal accidents accumulating about 40% of the deaths. In total, there were 266 days in which no fatal accidents were recorded in the Community.

Nicanor Sen has chaired the Autonomous Traffic Commission together with the autonomous coordinator of the DGT, Inmaculada Matías, and the head of the sector of the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard (ATGC) of Castilla y León, Francisco Iturralde.