This is the measure that, according to Marlaska, has reduced accidents in cities by 20%

With the consolidated data on road accidents for 2021, last year ended with 13% fewer fatalities on interurban roads (1,533) compared to 2019, the year in which 1,755 people died, and 10% fewer seriously injured (7,784). , since two years ago 8,613 people were seriously injured. These data establish that 2021 was the year with the fewest deaths and serious injuries in the entire historical series (except for the year of the pandemic).

In addition, all these figures mean that the mortality rate (32 deaths per million inhabitants) is one of the lowest in the European Union, ahead of countries with a long tradition in safety such as Finland and Austria (40), Belgium ( 43) or France (45).

However, and during the presentation of the report, the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has focused on the reduction in the number of fatalities in urban environments. Specifically, the reduction has materialized by 20% compared to 2019.

Despite the fact that he has stressed that 417 people killed in traffic accidents “is an unaffordable sum” and that, for this reason, we must “continue working”, 102 fewer deaths (compared to 2019) “is also an enormous amount of suffering saved” .

“We do not admit complacency, but in the historical series this reduction is unprecedented and perhaps somewhat hopeful,” the Interior Minister said on Monday.

“I was right”

This improvement in the figures is largely due, according to Marlaska, to the entry into force on May 11 of last year of the speed limitation of 30 kilometers per hour on streets with only one lane in each direction of traffic.

“We said that this initiative was a nuclear element of the Ministry’s policy”, recalled the minister, recalling the presentation of the measure, abounding that the motto chosen then to present it (A 30 hay más vida) “was right”.

Within this 20% drop in the number of fatalities on urban roads, almost all user profiles (pedestrians, cyclists, motorists and, especially, those over 64 years of age) have seen their mortality figures drop. However, the occupants of passenger cars have gone from 62 deaths in 2019 to 66 in 2021.

In the case of pedestrians, the number of fatalities decreased by 26%, totaling 183, which means 64 fewer fatalities than in 2019. The number of cyclists who died also decreased by 34%, going from 32 in 2019 to 21 the last year, as well as that of motorcyclists, registering 123 deaths, 25 fewer than in 2019.