Spanish roads are the safest they have been in 40 years, according to year-end government traffic death statistics released last week. In 2007, 2,741 people died on the country’s roads, a nearly 10 per cent drop from 2006. The last time the annul traffic death toll was below 3,000 was in 1967, according to figures quoted by the minister of the interior, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba.
It marked the fourth consecutive year of dropping death rates on Spanish roads. The sharp drop in 2007 came after the introduction of the new points-system driver’s licence in July 2006 and a change to the penal code in December 2007 that made some serious traffic offences, such as drink driving and excessive speeding, punishable by prison sentences.
While officials acknowledged that the traffic death toll is still high and must be further reduced, they were clearly pleased with the dramatic drop to levels not seen in four decades. Further, they pointed out that during that period the number vehicles on the road has increased eightfold, from 3.5 million in 1968 to today’s nearly 30 million.

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