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A recent study by the University Institute of Traffic and Road Safety (INTRAS) at the University of Valencia has highlighted a concerning reality on Spanish roads: run-off-road collisions account for one in three accidents, resulting in an annual average of 12,000 incidents. This translates to approximately 500 deaths and 1,500 serious injuries each year. Between 2017 and 2023, around 80,300 related incidents were reported, totaling 107,000 victims.
Luis Montoro, director of INTRAS, warns about the high lethality of these accidents, noting that four out of ten fatalities on intercity roads are due to run-off-road incidents. This situation not only represents a tragedy for the affected families but also becomes a social and health crisis. Since 2000, there have been 16,000 deaths and about 450,000 injuries from these incidents.
Among the contributing factors to these accidents are fatigue, poor visibility, and adverse weather conditions. However, speeding is recognized as the primary trigger in 70% of cases, followed by driver distraction.
The report details the profile of these incidents, revealing that 60% of run-off-road accidents occur on conventional roads and 57% in curves. It has also been noted that sudden changes in grade increase the severity of accidents, accounting for 6% of fatalities. An alarming statistic is that two out of three run-off-road accidents happen at night, especially between 2 and 5 a.m., significantly raising the risk of serious accidents.
It is also observed that drivers under 25 years old are particularly vulnerable, accounting for 47% of nighttime run-off-road incidents. As for the vehicles involved, more than half of the incidents (53%) involve passenger cars, and 90% of the cases are single-vehicle accidents, underscoring the individual nature of these tragedies. It is concerning that 65% of the vehicles involved in these run-off-road accidents are over ten years old.
Lastly, motorcycles represent a third of the vehicles involved in these accidents, and the percentage of victims among motorcyclists continues to rise, reaching one in four victims in this group. The situation demands urgent attention to address this growing issue on Spain’s roads.
Referrer: MiMub in Spanish
