A head-on collision early on Monday morning has left three people dead as the summer toll mounts on the Algarve's EN125.
The accident happened at 07:30 near Patã - Boliqueime.
The vehicles, one a high powered AudiTT, were unrecognisable as such and the bodies of the victims had to be cut from the wreckage by firemen.
The Audi was being driven 'at reckless speeds on the wrong side of the road as it came around the corner,' according to the van driver whose vehicle was hit head on, yet he escaped unhurt.
They dead were named as Carina Ferraz, 19, Rafael Costa, 20, and Nikolae Bafta, 24 all travelling in Audi after a night out at a Vilamoura disco.
According to data from the National Authority for Road Safety so far this year road accident deaths across the region have gone from 15 last year to 27, plus another three this morning.
The national figures are no better with more accidents, more serious injuries and more deaths, according to the safety authority.
Between January 1st and August 15th there have been 74,000 accidents, 4,000 more than in during the same period 2014, which resulted in 301 deaths, 31 more than last year with five months to go before the year end.
With an average of 327 accidents per day, figures for the period show an increase of over 100 cases in the number of serious injuries, from 1,238 to 1,338.
With sensitivity and political awareness the opening of the Faro bypass this evening will go ahead but without the ceremony that was due to include António Pires de Lima, the Minister for the Economy, Infraestrutura de Portugal’s António Ramalho and Sérgio Monteiro, Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Transport and Communications as well as local dignitaries.
Traffic will be allowed on the new, long awaited bypass as from 6.00pm bringing relief to Faro’s overburdened road system. The bypass will relieve Faro’s clogged road system of up to 20,000 vehicles per day.
"After coordination with the offices of the Minister of the Economy, the Secretary of State for Transport and the Municipality of Faro, Portugal Infrastructure has announced the cancellation of the opening ceremony of the Faro bypass which was scheduled for 17:00 today, out of respect for the victims of the road accident that occurred today in Patã," according to an announcement from Faro council.
"To the families in mourning, the council expresses its condolences and it wishes for the full recovery of the injured."
The saddening news of yet another fatal accident on the EN125 comes the day after CUVI, the anti-tolls protest group, delivered its annual petition to the President of the Republic who is on holiday in the Algarve.
CUVI spent the weekend reinforcing its message that the tolls on the motorway must be cancelled for economic and safety reasons as half of the vehicles using the EN125 would use the safer motorway if it again was free to use.
This summer's death rate has exceeded the most grim predictions. The EN125 currently is swollen with holiday traffic and the motorway remains little used due to the high cost of the tolls compared to local incomes and the confusion experienced by foreign drivers as to how to pay.
Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho remains resolute, the tolls stay, despite their negative affects on the regional economy and the financial stupidity of running a tolls scheme that now costs the taxpayer more than when the motorway was free.
Comments
I agree that one vehicle would have been on the wrong side of the road and the Portuguese seem to be particularly reckless when overtaking.
However, the roundabouts west of Lagos merely replaced traffic lights. I cannot understand why they invest huge amounts building and decorating pretty roundabouts whilst the road in between is like a cart track.
Possibly, but these all cost money. Portugal hasn't got much left as it's all been stolen by German banks and Goldman Sachs in cahoots with Portugal's own elite class of crooks.
These seem to be working elsewhere around ' accident black spots'.
For example : Is there any routine for 'tipping off' the police if someone, obviously over the limit, is seen getting in their car ? Or will the police come for you instead for invading the car drivers privacy ?
Is the death wish deep in Portuguese genes? My death or better still ... yours.
And Peter Rabbit´s promise to reconsider the amount of toll payable, but only after the election, and only if he is re-elected. If he can do that, what´s wrong with now?
I agree with Mike Towl that bad roads do not make bad drivers. But to drive well on a bad road requires more than average skill and patience. And the average driver in the Algarve seems to be deficient in both of these qualities. A safe method to reduce the number of road accident deaths is to reduce the density of Algarve average drivers in any one location, such as the EN125; and a failsafe means to achieve this end is to scrap the tolls.