MAIN - 18/12/1999
Zero Tolerance works
Traffic accidents have diminished significantly on the four national roads targeted by the controversial "Zero Tolerance Maximum Safety" campaign, initiated last year.
Since the introduction of the Zero Tolerance road safety campaign on October 14, 1998, 71 less people have died on national roads, while the number of accidents dropped by a healthy 324.
The figures were released on Monday by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Fernando Gomes accompanied by the Secretary of State for Administration, Luis Patrão.
On the once notorious IP5, the number of deaths were reduced from the 59 between October 13 1997 and November 30 1998, to the 24 from that date until November 30. These figures translate into a percentage drop in deaths of 59 percent.
During the same relative period, the IP5 also recorded a reduction of 16 percent in serious injuries and one percent in general road accidents.
On the EN 125 in the Algarve, a previous 39 deaths were reduced to 19 in the space of 11 months, once again deaths were down by more than 50 percent. Serious injuries and collisions on this road, dropped by 23 and 26 percent respectively.
On the EN 10, deaths were reduced by 69 percent in the eight months since the introduction of the road safety programme, and serious injuries and accidents were reduced by 57 and 46 percent.
As a whole, on the four roads currently under the traffic police's protective umbrella, deaths have been decreased by an average of 55 percent, serious injuries by 33 percent and road accidents by 27 percent.
