The subdelegate of the Government in A Coruña, María Rivas, today called on motorcycle drivers to improve their self-protection and follow traffic rules to reverse the increase in victims among the group of motorcyclists on the roads of the province.
He did so this morning during the presentation of the special campaign of control and surveillance of motorcycles carried out from today by the Provincial Traffic Headquarters (DGT) in Galicia and Traffic Group of the Civil Guard on the Galician roads and which will last until next Sunday.
María Rivas witnessed one of the first controls of this campaign at the height of kilometer 9 of the AC-12 road, passing through the Concello de Oleiros, along with the provincial head of Traffic of A Coruña, Victoria Gómez, and the chief commander of the Traffic Subsector of the Civil Guard in the province, José Angel Corral.
The deputy delegate justified this campaign in the increase of accidents on the roads among the group of motorcyclists indicating that “the data warns that they cause more traffic accidents with victims, both fatal and serious or minor injuries. And therefore, more and more men and women motorcyclists are dying on the roads of Galicia and also of this province”.
Regarding the province, he regretted that last year 8 people had died in traffic accidents with motorcycles on the roads of A Coruña: “A number that multiplies by four the deaths in the previous year,” adding that “this year, until April 30, we already counted two people dead on our roads while riding a motorcycle.” “These are unquestionable figures,” he said, “that certify something we already know, that the risk of dying in a traffic accident is 17 times greater for a person who goes on a motorcycle.”
Double sensitization
María Rivas explained that in addition to the control and surveillance tasks, this campaign also has a priority objective of raising awareness, which extends to a double track: firstly, to the person who drives a motorcycle, so that he is aware of the importance of wearing self-protection elements such as a helmet and suitable clothing.
This public, added a second group, made up of the rest of people who use the roads, “to take extreme precautions when they coincide with a motorcycle on their route”.
In this second aspect, he recalled that the recommendations indicate: the need to reduce or moderate the speed; maintain the safety distance; pay special attention in crosses, turns or passage preferences; look through the rear-view mirrors to confirm the possible presence of motorcycles; and use the blinkers sufficiently in advance to signal the maneuvers.
Autonomous campaign
The peculiarity of the motorcycle control and surveillance campaign is that it is carried out exclusively in Galicia on the initiative of the Provincial Traffic Headquarters and the Galician Sector of the Civil Guard.
This programme responds to the increase registered in recent years in the number of motorcyclists killed in road accidents in Galicia and also to the beginning of the period of the year in which the use of this type of vehicle is increased due to the good weather.