At least 3,620 traffic accidents occurred in Cuba in the first five months of 2023, with a balance of 290 deaths and 2,807 injuries, authorities reported.
Colonel Roberto Rodríguez Fernández, head of the Specialized Traffic Body of the Police General Directorate, explained that the figure covers from January 1 to May 31 and represents a decrease of 448 accidents, 12 deaths and 198 injuries with respect to the same period of 2022, quoted the official website Cubadebate.
The figure also represents 600 accidents more than those recorded at the end of Aprilwhen 3,000 incidents were reported with a balance of 243 Cubans dead and 2,300 injured.
The human factor is the main cause of traffic accidents with 90%, said Rodríguez Fernández, who clarified that not attending to the control of the vehicle continues to cause 75% of the victims due to traffic accidents.
“When we talk about not taking control of the vehicle, we are referring to any act or maneuver that prevents proper concentration on driving. Reading a document, answering a call or sending messages,” he said.
He added that people between the ages of 21 and 35 represented 22% of those affected in the accidents.
For their part, most of the fatalities They were between the ages of 46 and 55.
The official clarified that six out of 10 accidents in Cuba leave victims.
Although most of the events reported involved vehicle collisions, pedestrians are also run over, of which one in five dies. “70% of the accidents in the country occur in urban areas. Within these, 81% in residential areas. The most affected hours are from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm, when almost 20 % of accidents,” he explained.
In terms of accidents by provinces, in most of the country accidents, deaths and injuries decreased; but they increased in Pinar del Río and Villa Clara.
Regarding accidents due to violating the right of way and failing to comply with traffic signals, these represent 29% of the total, 19% of the fatalities and 29% of the injured.
82% of the accidents due to violating the right of way left at least one victim in the period studied, said the colonel.
Regarding accidents due to speeding, he affirmed that the number of deaths from this cause has risen and in every seven accidents due to speeding one person died on average, said the colonel.
