Almost 8,000 accidents, which caused 103 deaths and 513 serious injuries, were recorded in the first three months of this year, an increase in all indicators compared to the same period in 2023, the National Road Safety Authority (ANSR) said today.
The 24-hour accident and road inspection report for March 2024, released today by ANSR, shows that in the first quarter of 2024 there were 7,918 accidents with victims, resulting in 103 fatalities, 513 serious injuries and 9,254 minor injuries.
“Compared to the first quarter of 2023, there were increases in all indicators except the severity index. There were 251 more accidents (+3.3%), two more fatalities (+2.0%), 17 more serious injuries (+3.4%) and 337 more minor injuries (+3.8%),” says ANSR, pointing out that, compared to the same period in 2023, in the first half of the year there was “an increase in road traffic, which corresponds to an increase in the risk of accidents, even though there was a 4.1% decrease in road fuel consumption”.
According to the document, the worsening in all accident indicators was “most significant” in February, with increases of 28.6% in fatalities, 14.7% in minor injuries, 12.9% in accidents and 7.6% in serious injuries.
In March, compared to the same month in 2023, “there were only increases in fatalities, with a rise of 6.5%”, while the other indicators fell.
ANSR also makes a comparison with 2019, the reference year for monitoring the targets for reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries by 2030 set by the European Commission and Portugal, with decreases in fatalities (-12.0%), slight injuries (-4.1%) and the number of accidents (-1.6%), but an increase in serious injuries (+4.9%).
The report also states that collisions were the most frequent type of accident in the first three months of the year, accounting for 51.4% of accidents, 43.7% of deaths and 44.6% of serious injuries. Crashes, which accounted for 32.8% of all accidents, were responsible for 42.7% of fatalities.
According to the document, in the first quarter of the year disasters outside localities (54%) were slightly higher than those that occurred in localities (49%) and, compared to the same period in 2023, there was an increase in fatalities inside localities.
As for the type of road, between January and March, almost 63% of accidents occurred on roads, accounting for 29.1% of fatalities and 52.4% of serious injuries, while national roads accounted for 20% of disasters and freeways accounted for four more fatalities than in the same period in 2023.
ANSR also indicates that around 72% of all deaths between January and March were drivers, while 14.6% were passengers and 13.6% were pedestrians. Compared to 2023, the number of fatalities increased by 15.6% among drivers and decreased by 36.4% among pedestrians.
According to the document, light vehicles accounted for 74.3% of all vehicles involved in accidents in the first three months of the year, which increased by 3.3% compared to the same period in 2023.
“It should be noted that there were significant increases in bicycles (+33.1% compared to 2019 and +2.2% compared to 2023) and motorcycles (+21.1% and +0.2% compared to the same years),” reads the report.
In the first three months of the year, compared to the same period in 2023, there was an increase in the number of accidents in 12 of the 18 districts, most significantly in Évora (+37.5%), Viana do Castelo (+18.0%) and Faro (+11.5%). With regard to the number of fatalities, there were increases in eight districts, with the biggest rises in the districts of Leiria, Évora and Braga (+9, +6 and +5, respectively). In terms of decreases, Setúbal and Aveiro stand out, with eight and five fewer fatalities, respectively.
In the first three months of the year, half the number of fatalities occurred on the road network under the responsibility of Infraestruturas de Portugal (40.8%) and Brisa and Ascendi (4.9% each).
