316 fallecidos menos en 2006

Yesterday saw DGT publish the road safety statistics for Spain for 2006. As mentioned in previous posts the introduction of the points-based licence in July has had a significant effect in reducing road deaths (though slight injuries were up on last year).

The headlines of the report are:

• The number of road deaths has fallen by 9.5%.
• In 2006 there were 2,630 fatal traffic accidents in which 3,016 people died.
• The number of deaths on Spanish roads is the lowest since 1969, when there was one-seventh the number of vehicles on the road.
• Since the entry into force of points-based licensing, road deaths have fallen by 15%.
• In the last three years the number of dead has fallen by more than 1,000, a 25% fall.
• The number of deaths per million vehicles was 104, 56 less than in 2003.

This would translate into a road death index of 68 deaths per million population. Compare that figure to this chart (in pdf) of Europe for 2005.

All that progress with only 500 speed cameras in the entire country. Also, there are significantly more traffic police out there than in the UK where road deaths are rising in spite of 5,000+ speed cameras.