Categories: Politics

Human errors contribute to 8 out of 10 accidents on federal highways

Human errors contribute to 8 out of 10 accidents on federal highways

A survey carried out by the Brazilian Traffic Medicine Association (Abramet) based on Federal Highway Police (PRF) records reveals that, in the first seven months of 2022, 83% of accidents on federal highways can be attributed to the human factor.

In this period, 10% of the accidents were related to road conditions, while the vehicle and the environmental conditions appear, respectively, in 2% of the analyzed occurrences.

Between January and July of this year, around 13,000 traffic incidents on Brazilian federal highways were caused by issues related to the health of drivers. In all, more than 13,000 people were injured and 881 lost their lives in accidents of this type.

According to the survey, there was a 20% increase in accident victims attributed to driver health in the first seven months of 2022, compared to the same period last year.

Among the most common factors that caused accidents this year are lack of attention, driver drowsiness, ingestion of alcohol and/or drugs and sudden illness at the wheel, in that order. Abramet accounts for 567 deaths on federal highways from January to July 2022 related to these causes. In the same period of 2021, there were 544. The increase is just over 4%.

Only in the 9th position of the ranking appears a factor related to the condition of the road, which is the accumulation of water on the pavement. It is only in the 30th position that a factor related to the vehicle’s condition appears in the ranking of the main causes of accidents on the country’s federal highways; in this case, the risk factor is excessive or poorly packaged load.

The study was released by Abramet this Thursday (22), with the aim of alerting the population and authorities of the country during the National Traffic Week.

The president of Abramet, Antonio Meira Júnior, points out that “the driver’s health is an aspect that must be considered within the scope of public actions and policies aimed at reducing the indicators and reinforces the stimulus to the periodic performance of the Physical and Mental Aptitude Exam by the driver, a mechanism considered decisive for reducing traffic mortality”.

Source: CNN Brasil