Fatal traffic accidents fall in 2020

HEALTH restrictions imposed across Spain to curb the Covid-19 pandemic sent the number of fatal road traffic accidents back to 1960 levels – when such records first began.

One of the world’s toughest lockdowns and continued coronavirus emergency measures put the brakes on the number of individual and commercial road journeys – while numbers of holidaymakers arriving by car or coach also tumbled.

And as a consequence, the number of people dying on the roads fell by 870, or 21%, with another 3,463 people seriously injured.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said: “This reduction is a consequence of the [health] crisis and the mobility restrictions.

“The state of alert has generated a halt on the economic activity, which, linked with other factors like home working, explains a decrease of traffic and the reduction of accident rate.”

Meanwhile, Spain’s regions have tightened virus restrictions, but the government remains adamant it will not impose a lockdown, despite an expected post-Christmas surge in infections.

Health Minister Salvador Illa agreed the situation was causing ‘a great deal of concern’; and warned there were “complicated weeks ahead and people must remain on high alert’ – but said another lockdown was not part of Madrid’s plans.

With Spain counting more than 51,000 deaths and close to two million infections, most regions have banned movement across their borders without a valid reason.