Sardinia records an increase in deaths following road accidents for 2020, reaching an increase of 33.8 percent while the national figure speaks of a decrease of 24.5 percent. A countertendency noted by Istat in the Focus released today.
Last year there were 2,479 casualties on the island, 95 victims, 3,340 injured.
Looking at previous years, in the period 2001-2010 road fatalities fell by 50.0 per cent, more than the national average (-42.0%); between 2010 and 2020 there were variations of -10.4% and -41.8% respectively.
And in the same period the death rate in the region increased from 2.5 to 3.8 deaths per 100 accidents while the national average recorded a slight increase (from 1.9 to 2.0 deaths per 100 accidents).
In 2020 alone, the incidence of people classified as vulnerable by age (children, young people and the elderly), who died in accidents in Sardinia is higher than the national average (45.3% against 44.9%).
Highway 131 remains among the most dangerous on the island, with 9 victims, 190 injured, and a death rate of 6.7, an increase compared to 2019 (2.5). Highway 130 follows, with 6 deaths (0 in 2019), 64 injured, a mortality index of 16.2 and an injury index of 173. No deaths along the 129 (4 in 2019 with a mortality index of 9.8) .
The mortality rate, Istat still notes, grows significantly in the municipalities of Cagliari, Decimomannu, Paulilatino, Cardedu, Villasor and Olbia, decreases significantly in Sassari, Siniscola, Quartu Sant'Elena, Dorgali and Tertenia.
Most of the accidents in 2020 occurred along urban roads (26 victims, 1,908 injured), 42.3 percent along a straight; those occurring near an intersection represent 23.7% of the total, followed by those occurring near an intersection (22.8%), a curve (5.1%) and a roundabout (5 , 1%).
Along rural roads, 27.3% of accidents occur along a straight, 27.3% in curves, 7.3% near an intersection and 6.5% at an intersection.
The measures adopted in the context of the health emergency such as the lockdown and curfew times have heavily impacted on the temporal distribution.
“In April - explains Istat - there was a decrease in the number of accidents of 81.6% compared to the same month of 2019, in March of 66.5%. Between May and September, coinciding with the reopening of most of the activities and the period of increased mobility for holidays, there were 1,249 accidents (50.4% of those in the entire year) in which 1,703 people were injured (51, 0%) and 44 died (46.3%). About 82 %% of accidents took place between 8 and 20 but the death rate reached its highest values between five and six in the morning (13.0 deaths per 100 accidents) and two and three (11.8 deaths per 100 accidents), with values much higher than the daily average (3.8) ".
Furthermore, “on Friday and Saturday nights 35.8% of night accidents, 26.3% of victims and 36.5% of injured are concentrated. The death rate of night accidents is 6.3 deaths per 100 accidents, increasing on Saturday night compared to 2019 (from 0.9 to 5.8) and decreasing on Friday night (from 4.2 to 2.6) .
Among the most detected elements are the front-side collision, rear-end collision, the hit of a pedestrian and the most frequent risk behaviors are distracted driving, too high speed, failure to respect the safety distance and the rules of precedence. .
As for the ages, the standardized mortality rate is higher for the 15-29 year old class (10.1 per 100 thousand inhabitants) and for the 65+ age group (6.9 per 100 thousand inhabitants). 52.9% of pedestrians who are victims of road accidents belong to the 65+ age group while 68.3% of injured pedestrians are over 65 years old.
