Barcelona has fifteen critical accident accumulation points, a third of which are located on Aragó street, where last year 70 accidents were recorded concentrated at the intersections with Independència streets (17), Roger de Flor (14), Roger of Llúria (14), Muntaner (14) and Meridiana (11), according to data from the City Council.
What happens at these five intersections? Why are they mobility black spots? Many may think that the cause of these accidents is excessive speed, an idea influenced by the definition of “urban highway” that has been harshly used by certain political propaganda. The truth is that official data refute this prejudice, because none of the 70 accidents in the critical points of Aragó Street have been due to speed, according to reports from the Urban Police.
Aragó Street is not a highway, no matter how many times it is repeated. It is one of the main circulatory axes of the city, but it does not meet the definition of a highway because this type of road is intended for the circulation of vehicles at high speed, and in Barcelona the maximum limit within the highways is 50 km/h. h. Furthermore, for a good part of the day it is impossible to reach this maximum speed on Aragó Street due to the delays caused by the intensity of traffic, especially since the central part of Diagonal has been unusable for two years due to tram works. Respect for the speed limit on that street has been gained, in large part, by the three radars that fine speeding and the other three that penalize registered vehicles that run the red light. The so-called personal mobility vehicles are unpunishable because the camera does not identify them because they lack a license plate.
And if it is not excessive speed, what is the reason for the accidents at the critical points on Aragó Street? They are diverse and range from improper or careless turns to sudden lane changes, not respecting distances or lack of attention while driving, according to data from the Urban Police. It is striking that of the 157 vehicles involved in the 70 accidents recorded at the aforementioned crossings, almost half (48.4%) are motorcycles or mopeds, while 28.6% are passenger cars. The rest of the damaged vehicles are vans, taxis, bicycles and scooters, in this order. The accident rate of motorcycles is a rising phenomenon throughout the city, and so is the mortality of motorcyclists.
In none of the accidents in the black spots on Aragó Street were there deaths, the majority of those affected (69) had minor injuries and two people were seriously injured.
Since speed no longer affects the accident rate on Aragó Street, the City Council’s mobility area does not plan to install more radars on that road. On the other hand, the functioning of coexistence between pedestrian crossings, traffic lanes and bicycle lanes will be analyzed to resolve conflicts and avoid accidents. Precisely, the intersections of Aragó with Independència and with Meridiana Avenue are two points where more problems of coexistence between the different forms of mobility have been detected. Without forgetting the Muntaner and Aragó traffic lights, which deserve a special effort to understand the users.
The fact that registered traffic must stop at a red light, but unidentified vehicles can circulate thanks to an amber traffic light, causes confusion among pedestrians and drivers of these vehicles because the priority of traffic is often not respected. passerby’s step.
