The year 2023 has recorded at least 1,097 deaths on interurban roads as of December 18, according to provisional data from the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) counted within 24 hours (deaths in the first 24 hours of the accident).
In the same period just one year ago (from January 1 to December 18, 2022) the number of deaths on the roads amounted to 1,094. Last year ended with 1,145 people dying in traffic accidents during 2022.
In 2020, the number of people killed on Spanish roads fell below 1,000 victims for the first time, with 975, which represents a reduction of 21% compared to 2019. However, it must be taken into account that 2020 was marked by the reduction of long-distance trips due to the mobility restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The DGT data, collected by Europa Press, highlights that, compared to 2019 – a reference year without restrictions on mobility due to the health crisis -, the number of deaths on interurban roads in 2023 has increased by at least 40 people dead.
Since 2004, road accidents have been steadily decreasing in Spain, going from almost 3,500 deaths to less than 1,200 in the last five years. However, since 2013 the figures, although they have been decreasing, have been very similar, with 1,134 deaths in 2013, 1,132 in 2014 and 1,131 in 2015, this last year being the one with the fewest deaths recorded until then.
Starting in 2015, the number of deaths began to increase: 2016 recorded 1,161 deaths, while 2017 recorded even more, 1,198 deaths. However, 2018 ended with 1,188 deaths, a dozen fewer than the previous year, thus reversing the upward trend of the previous two years, and 2019 marked the historical record of 1,057 deaths, the lowest figure in history before the arrival of the pandemic.
In 2020, the number of deaths fell below 1,000 victims for the first time, with 975, which represents a reduction of 21% compared to 2019; while in 2021 it once again exceeded a thousand deaths.
Depending on the type of road, with data from January 1 to December 18, 2023, 287 people have died on highways and highways, which represents a reduction of 7% compared to the same period last year, when 307 people died on these ways. On the rest of the interurban roads, 810 people died in 2023, which is 3% more than in 2022, when 787 people died on these roads.
Furthermore, this year at least 449 vulnerable users (pedestrian, bicycle, scooter, moped and motorcycle) have died on Spanish roads, which is 10% more than last year, when 410 vulnerable users died.
In tourism, at least 526 people have died in 2023, 38 people in vans, 46 in trucks, 1 in buses and 32 in other types of vehicles.
By sex, more men than women have died on Spanish roads: 865 dead men compared to 226 women. According to age, 2,019 people between 45 and 54 years old have died; 209 from 55 to 64 years old; 191 aged 65 or older; 172 from 35 to 44 years old; 141 from 25 to 34 years old; 126 from 15 to 24 years old; and 21 from 0 to 14 years old.
This year, more people have died during the week (from 12:00 a.m. on Monday to 2:59 p.m. on Friday) than during the weekend (from 3:00 p.m. on Friday to 12:00 a.m. on Sunday): 633 deaths compared to 464.
By autonomous community, Andalusia, with 187 deaths, has been the one that has recorded the most deaths in the same period of 2023 (from January 1 to December 18), followed by Catalonia, with 145; Castile and León, 119; Valencian Community, 86; Castilla-La Mancha, 84; Galicia, 78; Madrid 77; Aragon, 53; Extremadura, 50; Balearic Islands, 41; Murcia, 39; Asturias, 35; Canary Islands, 33; Basque Country, 33; Cantabria, 14; Navarre, 12; and La Rioja, 11.
Sources from the General Directorate of Traffic have explained to Europa Press that the regulatory changes that were made in the previous legislature came into force in the years prior to 2023, such as the maximum limits of 90 km/hour on interurban roads or 30 km/hour. in cities, those related to the use of personal mobility vehicles such as scooters or the new Vocational Training (FP) degree in road safety, Road Education at the LOMLOE.
This 2023, according to the same sources, they have been working on new projects but the early elections “left many things stopped that now have to be reactivated.” This is the case of the Traffic Regulations, everything related to vulnerable users (cyclists, pedestrians, motorcyclists); the new historic vehicle regulations; or the updating of the catalog of signals that is carried out with the Ministry of Transportation and some other minor modification.
