The Directorate-General for Traffic (DGT) is launching a new special campaign for speed monitoring and enforcement from today, Monday, until next Sunday, 19 April, targeting “one of the key risk factors in road accidents”. According to the department headed by Pere Navarro, the Guardia Civil and local police forces joining the initiative will step up checks on both interurban and urban roads, paying particular attention to high-risk sections associated with speed and to areas with the highest accident rates.
The Traffic Department has pointed out that speeding remains the third most common contributing factor in road accidents and is present in over 20% of fatal cases. In 2024 (the most recent year for which consolidated figures are available), 307 fatal accidents were recorded in Spain “in which speeding was a decisive factor”. This figure represents a 5.5% increase compared to the 291 recorded in 2023.
The European Road Safety Observatory estimates that a 10 km/h increase in speed doubles the likelihood of a fatal accident, whilst a reduction of just 1 km/h could prevent more than 2,200 deaths a year in Europe, according to a study by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC). Furthermore, at speeds of 80 km/h or above, it is virtually impossible for a pedestrian to survive a collision, whereas at 30 km/h the risk of death is reduced to 5%.
The Traffic Department added that in measurements taken under free-flowing traffic conditions, where drivers are free to choose their speed, around 60% of drivers exceed the speed limits on conventional roads, almost 50% in urban areas and just under 40% on motorways. The campaign forms part of the Spanish Road Safety Strategy 2030 and the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021–2030, which aim to halve the number of road fatalities by the end of the decade.
As this campaign is also being run at European level by the RoadPol association (European Roads Policing Network), enforcement will take place not only in Spain but in all countries belonging to the association. During the last special enforcement campaign, carried out between 4 and 10 August last year, the Guardia Civil checked just over one million vehicles, of which 68,662 were reported, representing 6.7% – the highest percentage of the last seven campaigns. Local police forces also recorded the highest percentage in the series, with 312,000 vehicles checked and 14,336 reports filed, representing 4.5%.
Eight people lost their lives this weekend in eight road traffic accidents on Spanish roads. Among the deceased, four were motorcyclists, one of whom was involved in an accident on the road to Soller.
According to a report issued on Monday by the Directorate-General for Traffic (DGT), six of the accidents occurred on ordinary roads and two on motorways or dual carriageways. The accidents included four instances of vehicles leaving the road and two collisions. In the year to date up to 12 April, 224 road deaths have been recorded, 29 so far this month, according to data from Pere Navarro’s department.