In 2021 in Campania, a surge in accidents: deaths and injuries. In Naples, 63% of fatal accidents caused by high speed. Road safety: full reverse.
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2021 was a year to forget for road safety. According to the latest ACI-Istat data, in Campania, both accidents and their consequences increased.
In particular, last year, 9.014 road accidents occurred in our region (+27,2% compared to 2020) which caused 214 deaths (+21,6%) and 12.833 injuries (+28,9%). Particularly critical is the data relating to Salerno, where the number of "fallen on the asphalt" increased by 61,3%, while Naples stands out for the greater involvement of electric scooters: half of the regional accidents involving this vehicle are recorded in the Neapolitan city.
In this regard, it is recalled that this type of vehicle began to be detected in the ACI-Istat statistics from May 2020, so 2021 is the first year to provide complete data for this category. Here in detail, the picture of road accidents starting from the regional capital.
Road accidents in the municipality of Naples
Last year in the municipality of Naples there were 2.163 accidents in which 32 people lost their lives and 2.771 suffered more or less serious injuries. Compared to 2020, the number of accidents increased (+20,4%), the number of deaths (+6,7%) and the number of injuries (+22,3%).
37,5% of road victims are pedestrians: in one year the number of deaths belonging to this category has grown by 20%. In 2021, moreover, there were 2 deaths among cyclists and 12 among motorcyclists, with the consequence that in the city of Naples 81,3% of victims are vulnerable users.
High speed and failure to respect traffic signs together (79,2% of cases) are the main causes of fatal accidents. Equally relevant is distracted driving, mainly due to the use of cell phones while driving: accidents attributable to this bad habit have, in fact, increased by 54,1%.
Deaths in the “under 30” age group doubled, going from 4 to 8, while those among the “over 65” age group decreased significantly (-71,4%). The 22pm-6am time slot is confirmed as the most lethal: 40,6% of deaths, in fact, occur at night. This is a trend that is increasing compared to 2020 (+18,2%)
Accidents in the metropolitan city of Naples
In the province of Naples, in 2021, 4.698 accidents were recorded with 89 deaths and 6.412 injuries. Over the course of a year, both accidents (+24,0%) and their consequences (deaths: +9,9%; injuries: +26,9%) have increased. The phenomenon is mostly concentrated in residential areas: in fact, 83,7% of accidents occur in cities, where fewer people die (-1,7%).
The extra-urban arteries, however, prove to be more dangerous, as they have the highest mortality rate: 4,9, meaning that 4,9 deaths occur for every 100 accidents.
Particularly significant is the increase in mortality on the motorway network in the metropolitan city of Naples: + 125% compared to 2020. 43,4% of collisions between vehicles are due to head-on collisions. Excluding Naples, Pozzuoli is the municipality in the Metropolitan City with the highest number of accidents (201) and injuries (296), while Caivano, Casoria and Sant'Anastasia are those with the most deaths (5).
Accidents in the Campania region
In our region, last year, there were 9.014 accidents (+27,2% compared to 2020), 214 deaths (+21,6%) and 12.833 injuries (+28,9%). A trend substantially in line with the national data where these parameters increased by 28,4, 20,0 and 28,6 percent, respectively.
The social cost of accidents in our region (calculated on 2010 parameters pending MIMS updates) is 963 million euros per year, equal to 172 euros per inhabitant.
The province of Caserta is the one where the highest increase in accidents was observed (+34,5%), while those of Salerno and Benevento stand out for the increase, respectively, of deaths (+61,3%) and injuries (35,4%). Avellino and Naples are, instead, the provinces with the most contained increases in mortality: respectively +9,1 and +9,9 percent.
July is the most critical month of the year, the one with the highest number of accidents (1.011), deaths (28) and injuries (1.489). Instead, shifting attention to the week, Friday is the day with the highest concentration of accidents (1.443) and injured people (2.007), while Saturday and Sunday stand out for the number of deaths (36).
"As expected, the return to normality after the 2020 lockdowns has brought the phenomenon of accidents back to more real dimensions, comments the President of ACI Campania, Antonio Coppola. It was inevitable, in fact, that after the expected decrease in accidents with their consequences two years ago, due to the significant contraction of mobility on the territory as a result of the anti-covd restrictive measures, we would have faced a reversal of the trend in 2021.
However, when compared to 2019, the pre-covid year, the 2021 data reveal a comforting and general decrease, with the exception of the Municipality of Naples where deaths have increased by as much as 45,5%. Evidently, the regional capital urgently needs urgent interventions in terms of infrastructure and signage, incisive training and awareness-raising activities for road users, as well as assiduous road checks and greater effectiveness in the collection of fines, the proceeds of which, in the amount of at least 50%, must then be spent to improve traffic and road safety. Furthermore, an unpaid fine effectively authorizes the repetition of transgressions”.
Article published on 14 October 2022 - 16:45
