The Catalan Traffic Service (SCT) has detected a worrying rise in accidents among motorists this year compared to the first seven months of last year. As its director, Ramon Lamiel, explained yesterday, this year 29 motorcycle drivers have already died on Catalan roads, a figure that exceeds by 26% what was recorded in the same period last year and even by 7% the statistics of 2019.
Lamiel detailed that one in five accidents happen during peak hours on weekdays and also on weekend mornings. In order to try to stop this disturbing evolution in the number of accidents, Tránsit is currently developing an intensive campaign to raise awareness and protect motorists. The campaign, according to the director of the SCT, consists of “three legs”: information, training and police checks on the roads by the Mossos d’Esquadra patrols.
The head of the SCT has admitted that it is “difficult” to contain these accidents and has pointed out a “certain relationship between accidents and good weather”. Even so, he clarified that “it is not cause and effect”. In this sense, it has specified the roads where deaths and serious injuries have been concentrated since the beginning of 2023: the C-31, the C-32, the A-2, the B-20 and the N-340. By demarcations, he highlighted that in Girona 60% of the total accidents have involved motorcycles, and in Barcelona, ??44%.
Lamiel specified that the most common collisions are the lateral (from 28 in 2022 to 53 this year) and rear collisions (24 in 2022, 29 in 2023), but also the frontal collision. He defined a profile of the victim, who in 82% of the cases is a man (25 of the 29 in 2023 were men) and is aged between 44 and 55. In the seriously injured, this ratio remains: 134 men (120 drivers) and 20 women (12 female drivers).
According to Lamiel, the aim of this new campaign is to “change driving habits”, especially with regard to middle-aged drivers.
The head of the Southern Metropolitan Traffic area of ??the Mossos d’Esquadra, sub-inspector Marc Patxot, assured that, in addition to the complaints that are filed, they also “try to raise awareness of the risks with driving” and advise on appropriate clothing.
In 2022, a total of 42 people riding motorbikes died on Catalan roads, a reduction of 14.3% compared to the reference year, pre-pandemic 2019. Also last year, as is the norm, the months from April to September recorded the highest mortality for this group, coinciding with the good weather. Last year, almost half of the motorcyclists who died (46%) suffered accidents alone, without the intervention of any other vehicle.
