Tendency is endemic – but police messaging stays the same
Of the 38,554 traffic accidents with injuries registered between January 1 and August 31 this year, 22% (8,427) involved the flight of at least one of those responsible, according to the latest official figures released by PSP police.
Since 2022, the PSP has registered 151,647 accidents, which resulted in 193 deaths, 2,005 serious injuries and 45,997 light injuries.
During the same period, the force has arrested 33,137 people for ‘crimes on the road’ – roughly 34 per day, one person every hour.
This year there have been 55 deaths, 515 serious injuries, 11,845 light injuries and 8,204 accidents between vehicles, involving death or injuries, in which one of the parties responsible has ‘done a runner’ before authorities arrived (usually to avoid having to take a breathalyser test, or show a valid driving licence).
Also between January 1 and August 31, 223 people have been run over by a vehicle the driver of which did not stop to give assistance, or await the arrival of first responders. Again, that is roughly one ‘hit-and-run’ per day.
Data from previous years is no better: Of the 57,633 accidents with victims in 2023, 12,191 (involving 359 situations of pedestrians run over) saw the flight of at least one of those involved – in other words, once more, 22% of incidents.
In 2022, of the 55,460 accidents, 11,464 (337 of them involving pedestrians run over) saw one those responsible flee the scene – an average of 20%.
Broken down another way, of the total number of accidents registered by the PSP between January 1, 2022 and August 31, 2024 (151,647), 18,991 involved vehicles ‘coming off the road’, 18,991 involved collisions and 9,058 involved the running over of pedestrians.
So what can be done? According to Lusa, and tabloid Correio da Manhã, “the PSP appeals for safety”, calling on drivers to “adapt their driving to the meteorological conditions and condition of the road”. Drivers should not “adopt behaviours that could reduce their capacities, like driving under the effect of alcohol, driving with excessive speed, or under the effect of psychotropic substances”. Nor should drivers use mobile phones while driving. And “special attention should be taken close to pedestrian crossings and areas with large fluxes of people, like schools”.
It has to be said that the PSP give this advice, as do the GNR (the police force in rural areas) every year – and, as all the data shows, nothing changes. A saying, attributed to theoretical physicist Albert Einstein, is that ‘insanity’ is doing the same thing time and again, and hoping for different results. It may be time for police to change their messaging. ND
Source: LUSA/ Correio da Manhã
