Regarding road safety, the delegate of the Government in La Rioja, Beatriz Arraiz Nalda, said that “actions by the administrations such as awareness and road education of drivers and road users to know the consequences of traffic accidents are just as priority”.
This morning the Autonomous Commission of Traffic, Road Safety and Sustainable Mobility met, a consultative collegiate body for the promotion and improvement of traffic and road safety in the urban and interurban area in La Rioja. In the same, the road accident balance of 2024 has been analyzed, which ended the year with twelve deaths in traffic accidents, one more than in 2023.
Arraiz Nalda recalled that the interurban roads of Rioja recorded seven fatalities, four less than 2023, while the urban ones have gone from zero deaths in 2023 to five in 2024.
“Both the DGT and those of us who represent the administrations are direct actors who work involved and coordinated to reduce traffic accidents, but it is the whole of society that must be aware that this important issue concerns us all,” he insisted.
Therefore, the delegate has stated that compliance with speed limits is a key element to reduce road accidents and their dramatic consequences, the main deterrent measure being the placement of radars in high-accident sections. Inadequate speed is the cause of 21 percent of fatal accidents in Spain and is behind the road exits, which account for 42 percent of fatal accidents on Spanish roads.
As Arraiz Nalda has stated, “road safety policy is a binomial between education and surveillance because if we only focus on education and training, we will not obtain the desired objectives, but if we only exercise surveillance and control we will find the rejection of the citizens”.
For her part, the Provincial Head of Traffic, Beatriz Zúñiga Reinares, has pointed out that, although last year two people died in the N-232, they are four less than in 2023. To improve road safety in this country, he explained that the new radar in Alfaro will soon be operational, much in demand due to the high accident rate at this point.
On the other hand, Zúñiga Reinares has specified that road education will continue to be promoted throughout 2025 to raise awareness about mobility changes and the importance of safety.
Finally, he pointed out that another of the key points that has been addressed in the Commission is awareness and road education about vulnerable groups, such as the case of four deaths in urban areas last year, with two pedestrians and two motorcyclists in 2024.