CAMPAIGN AGAINST SPEEDING THIS WEEK

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As last weekend saw perhaps the busiest anticipated number of vehicle movements for the summer season, with approximately 2,790,000 journeys in the Valencia region alone, Alicante saw a total of 1,100,000 movements between Thursday and Sunday.

Despite having a busy enough weekend already, now, as the height of summer starts to ease, the Guardia Civil are embarking on their latest campaign for road safety throughout this week, with a main clampdown on speeding.

Between the 18th and the 24th of August, traffic cops will be out in force, with a primary focus on those who break the law on main roads, the location of the majority of fatal crashes where speed is a contributing factor. All Pegasus equipped helicopters are likely to be taking to the air, and mobile radar traps will be located in strategic locations around the country.

Inappropriate speed was present in 22% of fatal accidents. Speed is one of the main factors that results in accidents with the worst consequences. One in four deaths in road accidents is the result of speeding. Last year 1.2 million drivers were detected speeding circulating. The traffic department already has four Pegasus radars in service, which will also operate during every summer weekend, with a fifth due to be launched soon.

In 2013, 1,680 people died on the roads of Spain, 223 less than the previous year, a decrease of 12%. The rate of deaths per million inhabitants is 36 in Spain, well below the European average is 52. Almost 8 out of every 10 fatalities occur on conventional roads. Of those people who were killed in crashes, 171 were not wearing a seatbelt, and 4 of them were children not wearing any child restraint system.

Although this weekend may have been considered one of the busiest, it also marked the start of the return operation, when domestic tourists go back to their inland homes. However, the main “Operacíon Retorno” takes place between the 29th and 31st of August.

The next major campaign by the Guardia Civil will focus on seat belts, and will be between the 8th and the 14th of September, also looking at child restraints and the correct use of these lifesaving pieces of equipment. That campaign also coincides with a Europe wide effort by TISPOL, the European Traffic Police Network, so the same rigorous checks can also be expected across the continent.

In October, the Guardia Civil will focus on conventional roads, whilst TISPOL will focus on trucks and buses. In November, school buses will be the target of the Guardia Civil, whereas December will see all authorities focus on drug and alcohol in the run up to the Christmas and New Year holidat period.

Filed under: http://www.theleader.info/article/44612/

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