Special attention to the safety of trucks and buses this week

Today starts a new surveillance and control campaign of the General Directorate of Traffic that, during the next 7 days, will focus on the safety of vehicles used for the transport of goods and people. The campaign is part of the ‘Operation Truck&Bus’ developed at a European level by the RoadPol association (European Roads Policing Network).

Until next Sunday, June 19, both the Traffic Group of the Guardia Civil and the rest of the regional and local police that join the campaign will monitor both the conditions in which this type of vehicle circulates, regardless of the country in which are registered, as well as their drivers.

During this week, the surveillance and control of aspects such as the speed at which they circulate, the hours of driving and rest, the tachograph, excess weight, possible technical defects of the vehicle or the safety of the transported cargo will be focused on. Attention will also be paid to the documentation of the vehicle and the driver, the use of the seat belt by the driver and occupants and the use of the mobile phone while driving, and they will be required by the agents to test them for alcohol and other drugs.

Surveillance will be carried out on all kinds of roads and at any time of the day, especially on those roads where the intensity of traffic of this type of vehicle is greater.

Truck and bus accidents

Despite the fact that 68% of the vehicle fleet in our country are passenger cars, the transport of goods (trucks and vans) has an important weight in terms of road safety, since it represents the second most numerous type of vehicle that circulates on our roads, with 14% of the fleet, and are involved in 13% of the accidents with victims that occurred in 2020 in Spain. In addition, in case of accidents, these are more severe due to their masses and dimensions.

In 2020, trucks weighing more than 3,500 kg were involved in 2,705 accidents with victims, in which 199 people died*, mostly (75%) occurring on interurban roads. Regarding buses, in 2020 there were 1,362 accidents with victims in which a vehicle of this type was involved in which 18 people died*. In this case, 90% of these accidents took place on urban roads.

*Deceased occupants of said vehicles or third parties, that is, people who were traveling at the time of the accident in another vehicle other than the truck or bus that was involved in the accident.

Buses, for their part, even though they only represent 0.2% of the total fleet, are involved in 2% of accidents with victims, most of them occupants of the other vehicles involved in the accident. As can be seen, during 2020, of the 18 deaths, 15 correspond to occupants of third-party vehicles.

Inappropriate behaviours are one of the reasons why the EU continues to remind us of the importance of enforcing traffic laws and of implementing campaigns like the one that is taking place this week in many European countries.