Madrid (EFE) the 100,000 bar.
The data was offered this Wednesday by the road safety coordinating prosecutor, Luis del Río Montesdeoca, who has attributed this significant increase “to the loss of the necessary road awareness” due to the restrictions on mobility derived from the pandemic and has appealed to recover good habits on the roads to avoid personal and family tragedies.
Last year ended with an increase in road accident figures compared to 2021 (4% more), an increase parallel to but not proportional to that experienced by road crime, which is much higher, Del Río highlighted.
The 137,406 crimes against road safety represent a global increase of 11,400 compared to 2021 (9.1% more) and is the highest in the decade and even in the entire historical series since 2005, only surpassed by the 140,650 in 2011.
Highest number of convictions for driving without a license of the decade
The 104,660 convictions for crimes against road safety (10.2% more than a year earlier) represent more than 36% of all those handed down by the courts for all kinds of crimes (the highest percentage in the last six years).
Of the total, 59,461 were addressed to drivers who were driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (8.5% more than in 2021), while 38,383 were for driving without a permit (12.4% more), the highest statistical data. high in the last decade for this crime.
The increase in road crime last year is also reflected in the figures for charges filed by prosecutors. The Public Ministry made 105,078 (9.1% more than in 2021) and they represent 34% of all those presented by the Prosecutor’s Office.
A third of the accusations and criminal convictions in Spain have been for dangerous road crimes and represents the largest volume of the entire historical series, the accusations exceeding the “psychological barrier” of 103,853 in 2009.
Three out of four proceedings end in conviction
Around 90% of the total of the 104,660 sentences are handed down in accordance, which has allowed the practically immediate execution of the 66,231 sentences of deprivation of the right to drive and 1,612 loss of validity of the license imposed last year.
A good part of the 76,000 fines and 25,485 work sentences imposed for the benefit of the community have also been accelerated.
Last year the percentage of procedures that end in conviction has increased: approximately three out of four initiated (76%), which is due, according to the courtroom prosecutor, to the reinforcement of interpretive unification.
In this regard, the State Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, has highlighted the high rate of urgent legal proceedings in this area: 73% of them use the speedy trial modality.
Regarding the territorial distribution of convictions, Catalonia, Andalusia and Madrid occupy the top positions, although with a reduction of 901 in the first autonomous community and 4,979 more in the third.
Regarding the number of people serving a sentence in jail only for a crime against road safety, there were 936 as of December 15, 2022, according to data from Penitentiary Institutions, but Del Río has warned that conclusions cannot be drawn because These are data referring to a specific date.