Andalucía (187), Cataluña (145), and Castilla y León (119) have been the autonomous communities with the highest number of deaths recorded in 2023.

MADRID, Dec 30.

The year 2023 has recorded at least 1,097 deaths on interurban roads as of December 18th, when in the same period just a year ago (from January 1st to December 18th, 2022) the number of deaths on the roads amounted to 1,094, representing a difference of 3 human losses.

These are the provisional data from the Directorate General of Traffic (DGT) counted within 24 hours (deaths within the first 24 hours of the accident). In 2020, the number of people killed on Spanish roads fell below 1,000 for the first time, with 975 deaths, representing a 21% reduction compared to 2019. However, it should be noted that 2020 was marked by a decrease in long-distance travel due to mobility restrictions imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The data from the DGT, collected by Europa Press, highlight that, compared to the year 2019 - a reference year without mobility restrictions due to the health crisis - the number of deaths on interurban roads in 2023 has increased by at least 40 fatalities.

Since 2004, road fatalities have been consistently decreasing in Spain, going from nearly 3,500 deaths to less than 1,200 in the last five years. However, since 2013 the figures, although decreasing, have been very similar, with 1,134 deaths in 2013, 1,132 in 2014, and 1,131 in 2015, with the latter year being the one with the fewest deaths recorded up until then.

From 2015 onwards, the number of fatalities started to increase: 2016 recorded 1,161 deaths, while 2017 saw even more, with 1,198 deaths. However, 2018 ended with 1,188 deaths, ten less than the previous year, thus reversing the upward trend of the previous two years, and 2019 marked the historic low record of 1,057 deaths, the lowest figure in history before the arrival of the pandemic.

In 2020, the number of deaths fell below 1,000 for the first time, with 975 fatalities, representing a 21% reduction compared to 2019. In 2021, the number of fatalities exceeded a thousand again.

According to the type of road, with data from January 1st to December 18th, 2023, 287 people have died on highways and expressways, representing a 7% reduction compared to the same period last year, when 307 people died on these roads. In the rest of the interurban roads, 810 people died in 2023, which represents a 3% increase compared to 2022, when 787 people died on these roads.

In addition, this year at least 449 vulnerable users (pedestrians, bicycles, scooters, mopeds, and motorcycles) have died on Spanish roads, which represents a 10% increase compared to last year, when 410 vulnerable users died.

At least 526 people have died in cars in 2023, 38 in vans, 46 in trucks, 1 in buses, and 32 in other types of vehicles.

In terms of sex, there have been more male than female fatalities on Spanish roads: 865 men compared to 226 women. According to age, 2019 people aged 45 to 54 have died; 209 from 55 to 64 years old; 191 aged 65 or older; 172 from 35 to 44 years old; 141 from 25 to 34 years old; 126 from 15 to 24 years old; and 21 from 0 to 14 years old.

This year, there have been more deaths on weekdays (from 00:00 on Mondays to 14:59 on Fridays) than on weekends (from 15:00 on Fridays to 00:00 on Sundays): 633 deaths compared to 464.

By autonomous communities, Andalucía, with 187 deaths, has had the highest number of fatalities on Spanish roads in 2023, followed by Cataluña with 145, Castilla y León with 119, Comunidad Valenciana with 86, Castilla-La Mancha with 84, Galicia with 78, Madrid with 77, Aragón with 53, Extremadura with 50, Islas Baleares with 41, Murcia with 39, Asturias with 35, Canarias with 33, País Vasco with 33, Cantabria with 14, Navarra with 12, and La Rioja with 11.

Sources from the Directorate General of Traffic have explained to Europa Press that the regulatory changes made during the previous legislature came into effect in the years before 2023, such as the maximum speed limits of 90 km/h on interurban roads or 30 km/h in cities, those related to the use of personal mobility vehicles such as scooters, or the new Professional Training (FP) title in road safety, and Road Safety Education in the LOMLOE.

This year, according to the same sources, work has been done on new projects, but the early elections "left many things on hold that now need to be reactivated." This is the case with the Traffic Regulations, everything related to vulnerable users (cyclists, pedestrians, motorcyclists), the new Historic Vehicle Regulation, or the update of the catalog of traffic signs carried out with the Ministry of Transport and some other minor modifications.