Over 1´800 lives lost on Balearic roads in past 15 years

PALMA
THE number of fatal road accidents on the Balearics during the last 15 years could be described as chilling.
More than 1'800 people have died in road accidents in the Balearics during the last 15 years.
According to figures from the Provincial Traffic department, between 1993 and 2006 a total of 1'761 people lost their lives in traffic accidents on the islands, a figure which must be added to the number of deaths on the roads this year.

TRAGIC
Between January and August this year there have been 76 deaths on Balearic roads, and the month of September has also started tragically with a 14 year old boy dying after an accident in Santanyi.

The moped which he was riding collided with an all terrain vehicle on the Na Burguera road, which joins Cala Egos and Calonge.
The boy suffered serious injuries and died later in hospital.
The tragic news spread rapidly through the town, as the family live in Cala Egos and his mother works for the council.
The number of deaths this year on Balearic roads is similar to that of previous years, comparing the period from January 1 to August 31, and taking the last five years as a reference.

During the same period, 78 people lost their lives on Balearic roads in 2002 (108 during the whole year), 84 in 2003 (118 by the end of the year), 85 in 2004 (118 by the end of the year), 73 in 2005 (110 by the end of the year), and 69 in 2006 (which became 102 by the end of the year).

The majority of fatal accidents in the Balearics are recorded on Majorca, followed by Ibiza and Formentera and, to a lesser extent, Minorca.
During these last few years the total number of deaths throughout the year has never dropped below 100.
However, the statistics from the Traffic department count only those people who die at the scene of the accident or during the 24 hours afterwards, which means that the actual number of victims is much higher as there are a considerable number of people who have died days after an accident.

In addition to the fatalities, it has to be taken into account that there have been hundreds of people seriously injured in the road accidents which happen daily on the islands.