YOUNG PEOPLE under 30 account for 40 per cent of road traffic accident deaths according to an alarming set of new statistics.
And 24 per cent of all deaths registered in 2006 on Portuguese roads involved motorbike riders within the same age group.
The shocking new statistics were released last week by the Rehabilitation Medicine Centre, Centro de Medicina de Reabilitação, at Alcoitão which stated that 3,853 accidents in 2006 involved motorbikes and mopeds.
Despite the high number of victims, the number of deaths has significantly fallen in recent years says José Trigoso, the Director of Portuguese Road Traffic Accident Prevention, Prevenção Rodoviária Portuguesa PRP.
While in 1991 there were 891 motorbike related deaths; that number had fallen by 205 in 2006.
The reason why the number of accident related deaths is down, according to José Trigoso, is an improvement in behaviour and attitude by drivers coupled with faster and more efficient road traffic accident emergency services.
Jorge Jacinto, Deputy Director at the Clínica do Centro de Reabilitação de Alcoitão, holds the same opinion.
“If there has been a decrease in the number of road traffic accident related deaths despite an overall increase in accidents in the past few years, this is because of an improvement in the response and on-the-spot treatment of victims by the emergency services,” he says.
However the Director of the PRP levelled some harsh criticisms at bike riders that still drove around without the necessary safety equipment such as a crash helmet.
Road safety education in Portugal is still an issue and a problem, said José Trigoso who defended the tougher new measures and penalties on irresponsible driving from the police.
“It’s completely unfair that some motorbike riders are viewed as reckless and irresponsible hooligans and are picked on because of the bad behaviour of a few,” he said.
According to official statistics from the Portuguese driving and licensing authority – Direcção Geral de Viação – there were 57,517 road traffic accidents on Portuguese roads in 2006 of which 3,853 involved motorbikes.
Do you have a view on this story? Email: editor@portugalresident.com
