The Secretary of State for Internal Administration has announced that 50 new speed control radars will come into operation by the end of March this year.
Of these new radars, 30 are the normal 'instantaneous speed detection' type, but 20 will be able to calculate the average speed between two devices on a given route. The first National Speed Control System in the country was activated in 2016, with these additional 50 new radars bringing the current total to 110 speed control posts.
“Our goal is that by the end of the first quarter of this year we will have the new 50 operational radars”, Patrícia Gaspar told the Lusa agency, at the end of the ceremony for the presentation of the provisional data for 2021 on accidents and road inspection.
According to the Secretary of State, the National Road Safety Authority have been authorised to spend around 1.6 million euros before the end of 2022, for the installation and maintenance of the speed control radar system in the country. The contract for the installation of the National Speed Control System (SINCRO) has already been signed, and the process is currently being implemented.
These new radars will be installed in locations based on, among other factors, “the level of past accidents there and in which excessive speed proved to be one of the causes for this accident rate”, according to information released in 2020. These places include EN5 in Palmela, EN10 in Vila Franca de Xira, EN101 in Vila Verde, EN106 in Penafiel, EN109 in Bom Sucesso, IC19 in Sintra and IC8 in Sertã.
The Secretary of State highlighted the importance of National Speed Control Systems, stressing that studies carried out over the last few years in the places where speed surveillance radars were installed show that at these points there is “an objective decrease in the number of accidents, deaths and serious injuries”.
“This is clear proof that enforcement works. Inspection is a fundamental instrument”, she said, adding that inspection actions increased by about 8% in 2021 and that, despite a substantial improvement in driver behaviour, there are still many offenses related to alcohol, speeding, cell phone use and not wearing a seat belt."
She appealed to all citizens to respect the road code, the driving rules and the parameters of the safety rules.
According to provisional data, the 28,868 road accidents recorded last year caused 389 deaths, 2,093 serious injuries and 33,812 minor injuries, a decrease in all indicators compared to 2019, but an increase compared to 2020, with the exception of fatalities.