Almost 35,000 road accidents occurred last year and caused 468 deaths, 2,437 serious injuries and 41,058 minor injuries, an increase in all indicators compared to 2022, Road Safety said today.
“Compared to 2022, on the mainland there were increases in all indicators except the severity index. There were 2,186 more accidents (+6.7%), five more fatalities (+1.1%), 194 more serious injuries (+8.6%) and 2,602 more minor injuries (+6.8%),” writes the National Road Safety Authority (ANSR) in the 2023 report, highlighting the increase in road traffic, which corresponds to an increase in the risk of accidents.
Compared to 2019, the reference year for monitoring the targets set by the European Commission and Portugal to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries by 2030, there was a decrease in accidents, fatalities and slight injuries, with 730 fewer accidents (-2.0%), seven fewer fatalities (-1.5%) and 2,144 fewer slight injuries (-5.0%), but 136 more serious injuries (+5.9%).
ANSR also indicates that, compared to the average for the last decade (2010-2019), there was an upward trend in serious injuries (+9.1%), accidents (+6.8%) and slight injuries (+3.2%).
However, according to the report, there was a decrease in fatalities (-13.7%) and in the severity index (-19.4%).
According to the document, collisions were the most frequent type of accident in 2023, accounting for 52.7% of accidents, 40.9% of fatalities and 45.9% of serious injuries, while crashes, which accounted for 33.9% of all accidents, were responsible for the highest proportion of fatalities, 47.3%.
Last year, the number of fatalities outside localities (244) was slightly higher than within localities (223), but compared to 2022, it was within localities that fatalities increased (+3.2%).
As for the type of road, ANSR reports that almost 63% of accidents occurred on roads, accounting for 29.6% of fatalities and 45.9% of serious injuries, and 20% were on national roads.
The report also states that 72.4% of all those killed last year were drivers, while 15.4% were passengers and 12.2% pedestrians. In terms of year-on-year variations in fatalities, there were decreases in passengers compared to 2022 (15.3%) and pedestrians (18.6%).
On the other hand, in the group of drivers, there was an increase in fatalities of 10.1% compared to 2022 and in serious injuries.
ANSR also indicates that half of the fatalities recorded last year occurred on the road network under the responsibility of Infraestruturas de Portugal (45.2%) and Brisa (5.4%).
The report also indicates that last year there was an increase in the number of accidents in 16 of the 18 districts, with the greatest increase in Portalegre (+16.5%), Leiria (+10.8%), Braga and Setúbal (+9.9% each), while fatalities were higher in nine districts, with the greatest increases in Castelo Branco and Porto, and serious injuries increased in 11 districts, especially in Braga and Leiria.