Experts warn that at least 50 motorcycles are involved in traffic accidents in Venezuela every day

• Andrea Rocha, administrator of the social network account X Información Vial, said that in most cases the motorcyclists involved in accidents are under 30 years of age | Main photo: Reference

The administrator of the X Información Vial social network account, Andrea Rocha, warned that the number of traffic accidents involving motorcyclists is increasing in Venezuela and assured that the country’s road legislation is outdated.

“Every day there are road accidents in Venezuela involving motorcycles in all the states of the country. And every day there are reports of deaths, even more than one person who loses his life in these events. 18 thousand motorcycles are involved in accidents annually, that is, 50 motorcycles a day,” said Rocha on July 16 in an interview for the newspaper Successes Circuit.

Rocha said that most drivers do not have enough money to get insurance and added that in many of the reported cases, the drivers are under 30 years old.

“It is also true that the vehicle or motorcycle is mostly used by people who do not have a high purchasing power. Instead, they use a vehicle that is within their reach. (…) People who suffer motorcycle accidents are mostly under 30 years of age. We are talking regarding young people who are not insured and who mostly end up resorting to the public health system,” he said.

Photo: Courtesy

The most frequent causes of traffic accidents

Andrea Rocha stressed that one of the most frequent reasons for reported deaths of motorcyclists in the country is the misuse of helmets, which often do not meet safety standards to protect the driver’s life.

“Many times motorcycle drivers not only do not wear helmets, but they also take a second, third and even fourth passenger. In most cases, they even go with children. We are also seeing an increase in motorcyclists who use the roads in Venezuela to transport large objects on their motorcycles, such as televisions, refrigerators, gas cylinders,” he added.

Both Jacobo Vidarte and Andrea Rocha called for the laws that regulate traffic in Venezuela to be updated, since they considered that the current regulations are not in line with the reality of the country.

Photo: Taken from X / Reporte Ya

OSV traffic accident figures

The Road Safety Observatory (OSV) revealed in its most recent report that 223 accidents were reported in June in Venezuela, in which 75 people died and 226 were injured.

According to the non-governmental organization (NGO), the study was carried out based on monitoring in digital media (local and regional). It detailed that, of the total number of road accidents reported, in 82% of the cases men died, while in 17.3% the fatal victims were women.

“The fatal victims include motorcyclists (36); drivers of private vehicles (11); passengers or occupants in vehicles (10); passengers (8); pedestrians run over (4) and cyclists (3),” the observatory said in a press release published on July 9.

Photo: @danielgcolina

The OSV revealed that Miranda is the state with the highest number of traffic accidents in June, with 26.4% of the total registered. It is followed by the Capital District (19.7%), Bolívar (13.9%), Carabobo (7.6%) and Falcón (7.17%).

The report also stated that 36.7% of the cases occurred on avenues, 31.3% on highways, 10.7% on streets, 22% on secondary roads and 4.4% on trunk roads.
“This month, and thanks to contributions from the Zoom Foundation, the OSV added statistics that included other data of interest to more accurately analyze the accidents that occur in the country,” the NGO said.

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