According to the accident and inspection report of the National Road Safety Authority (ANSR) for the first four months of the year, 6,515 accidents with victims were registered in mainland Portugal. which resulted in 74 deaths, 444 serious injuries and 7,360 light injuries. ANSR data show an improvement in the main accident indicators, compared to the same period of 2020: there were 1,128 fewer accidents with victims (-14.8 percent), 24 fewer fatalities (-24.5 percent) less 26 serious injuries (-5.5 percent) and less than 1,643 minor injuries (-18.2 percent).

"If we compare with the previous five years (2016 to 2020), there was an improvement greater than that verified when compared to the previous year: 32.6 percent less accidents, 42.7 percent less fatalities, less 22.9 percent of serious injuries and less 36.6 percent of minor injuries”, is mentioned in the report. Most of the accidents were due to collisions (51.1 percent of accidents with victims), despite having been responsible for only 32.4 percent of fatal victims. Craps, which represent 36.2 percent of all accidents, were responsible for 45.9 percent of deaths and 42.6 percent of serious injuries.

With regard to the type of road, the report indicates that on streets (67.0 percent of the total number of accidents) fatalities decreased by 13.2 percent , while serious injuries increased by 14.6 percent. On national roads, where 16.5 percent of accidents occurred, there were decreases of 32.3 percent and 28.9 percent, respectively, in fatalities and serious injuries. According to the report, 67.6 percent of all fatalities were drivers, 6.8 percent passengers and 25.7 percent were pedestrians. “In terms of year-on-year variation, there was a 70.6 percent reduction in fatalities of passengers, with a decrease of 17.4 percent in the case of pedestrians and 13.8 percent in fatal victims and in drivers, corresponding to 12 fewer, four fewer and eight fewer fatalities than in 2020, in each case”, is referred to in the document.

In relation to the category of vehicle involved in accidents, light vehicles constituted 71.5 percent of the total, with a reduction of 18.3 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, followed by a reduction of 15.5 percent for heavy vehicles and 11. 2 percent of mopeds and motorcycles. Between January and April, 54.1 percent of the number of fatalities was registered on the road network under the responsibility of six infrastructure managers: Infraestruturas de Portugal (32.4 percent), Brisa (5.4 percent) and municipalities of Alcobaça, Santa Maria da Feira, Sintra and Vila Nova de Gaia (4.1 percent for each).

The report also mentions that 36.2 million vehicles were inspected, either in person or by means of automatic inspection, with a decrease of 5.8 percent compared to the same period in 2020. "This difference was a reflection of a 0.6 percent reduction in inspection by the GNR and PSP together, as well as a 6.6 percent reduction in the SINCRO radar system managed by ANSR, a consequence of the reduction in circulation due to mandatory confinement,” according to the report. In these actions, 356.6 thousand infractions were detected, which represents a decrease of 21.2 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. The infraction rate (total number of infractions/total vehicles inspected) was 0.99 percent , a reduction of 16.4 percent compared to the 1.18 percent rate registered in 2020.

Regarding the type of infractions, 55.9 percent of the total registered in this period was related to speeding. According to the report, there was a decrease in some types of infractions, highlighting the reduction in transgressions for alcohol consumption above the legal limit (-44.2 percent ) and the reduction for speeding (-30.3 percent ). However, there was an increase in infractions due to the absence of mandatory periodic inspection (+75.8 percent), non-use of seat belts (+29.5 percent), use of mobile phones (+20.1 percent) and for not using restraint systems (+28.4 percent). As for speeding, the offence rate (total number of speeding offences /vehicles monitored by radar) decreased by 25.8 percent, from 0.8 percent between January and April to 0.6 percent recorded in the same period of the previous year.

With regard to driving under the influence of alcohol, between January and April, 488 thousand drivers were tested, representing an increase of 10.4 percent compared to 2020, despite the rate of violation (total number of offenses for alcohol tests performed) has decreased by 49.4 percent , from 1.6 percent in the first four months of 2020 to 0.8 percent in the same period of 2021. Road crime, measured in the total number of arrests, increased by 14.7 percent compared to the same period in 2020, reaching 7.5 thousand drivers. More than half of the arrests (54.5 percent) were due to lack of legal license to drive, with an increase of 76.9 percent of these cases, compared to that verified between January and April 2020. As for the point-based license system, since its entry into force until the end of April 2021, 1,450 drivers had their driver's license revoked and 263,800 drivers lost points on their driver's license.