In July the number of deaths on the road grew again. The DGT assures that there is a culprit: the heat

July was a bad month for road accidents. The DGT recorded 131 deceased. There are 14 more people than in 2019, the year that is taken as a reference because, of the last, it is the closest to the movement figures that have occurred in 2022.

The agency ensures that the number of journeys has increased by 5% but, at the same time, the deceased have also increased by 12%. They are not good data in a year that is turning out to be more deadly than usual on Spanish roads.

And at a time when the DGT must seek answers, Pere Navarro points to a culprit: the heat. “There are 14 more deaths than in 2019. In the analysis that we have done in the DGT, the heat appears to us. The heat wave that we are all suffering is a factor that affects, touches and affects driving”, Pere Navarro assured. in an interview with RTVE.

We will continue to ask the members of the Road Safety Commission of the @CongressIt is take brave steps.
This is a gratuitous affirmation, made without the endorsement of any objective data.
Our road safety must not be managed with such insulting frivolity. pic.twitter.com/i268IEPrtO

– Juanjo Alba (@juanjoalba) August 7, 2022

Heat as a differential factor

It is not the first time that the DGT has warned of the dangers of heat. Pere Navarro has summed it up in the following words: “We make mistakes with the heat. But mistakes, on the road, result in accidents (…) We all know that with the heat, you are tired, attention decreases, attention span decreases: you make mistakes, “he continues in his response.

In an entry in its 2021 digital magazine, the DGT warned of the dangers we face when we get behind the controls of a car and experience a heat wave. According to his calculations, the risk of suffering an accident increases by 20%. At a temperature of 35 degrees, the DGT ensures that we stop perceiving between 10 and 20% of the signals.

Therefore, they recommend that before getting in the car Let’s plan the routes to avoid driving in the middle of the day. If there is no other choice, it is good to avoid copious meals, always carry water inside the car and, in addition, cool the interior well before starting off.

a dramatic year

Despite the fact that Pere Navarro’s statements point to the heat as a differentiating factor from last July, andhe year 2022 is being especially hard on Spanish roads. Some have attributed the highest number of deaths on the roads to the prohibition of exceeding 20 km/h when overtaking on a secondary road, but the data was already worrying before this measure came into force.

If we look back, 2022 has been the year in which we have fully recovered the usual mobility figures in our country. As we have seen, in July, even, the routes have been exceeded by 5% compared to 2019, which the DGT is still taking as a reference.

So far this year, only in the months of February and March (this one with a significant decrease) has there been a decrease in the number of victims on the road. In the rest of the months, the number of deaths has increased. So far this year, already 58 more people have died than in 2019. The data so far this year are as follows.

Photo | Darwin Vegher