ROME – On Italian roads, 73 accidents out of 100 occur in built-up areas, 5 on the motorway and 22 on extra-urban roads. Overall, in 2021 compared to 2019, both accidents and deaths decreased (5,119 fewer accidents, 179 deaths). On the motorway, accidents drop by 15.9%, and deaths by 20.6%, as well as on extra-urban roads, accidents -10.1%, deaths -10.5% and in built-up areas with -19.5% accidents and -18.7% deaths. The data are obtained from the ACI study “Localization of road accidents 2021”, which analyzed the 31,407 accidents (1,002 fatalities), with 1,078 deaths (37.5% of the total) and 47,740 injured, spread over approximately 53,000 km of Italian main roads (average mortality rate of 3.4 deaths per 100 accidents). On the motorway, cars are 71.5% of vehicles involved in accidents (73.8% in 2019), industrial vehicles are 22.9% (20.4% in 2019) and motorcycles are 5.3% (stable compared to 2019). Movements and departures on weekends have a particular impact, with June, July and August being the months with the greatest accidents. Friday is the day with the most accidents (15.2%). From 18 to 20 the most critical hours, the mortality rate is higher in January (4.2 deaths per 100 accidents), followed by June (4.0), while compared to 2019, accidents on the primary network decreased by 14% and deaths by 14.2%.
The study also highlights that urban motorways are those with the highest accident density due to the high traffic flows and the variety of different vehicles that travel on them. The urban section of the A24 (10 accidents / km), the Northern Milan bypass in the Monza Brianza section (8.8 accidents / km) and the Capodichino A1 branch in the province of Naples (8.1 accidents / km), are the roads in which more accidents occur (national average motorway network 1.03 accidents / km). On the extra-urban roads (national average 0.5 accidents / km), the most at risk are the state roads 719 Prato-Pistoia in the Province of Florence (8 accidents / km), 36 of Lake Como and Spluga in the section in the province of Milan (6.9 accidents / km) and 671 Bergamo interurban axis (6 accidents / km). Compared to 2019, the deaths on motorcycles increase (they were 257), while the deceased cyclists decrease (they were 53). The death rate of two wheels is much higher than that of four wheels: 4.1 deaths for every 100 motor vehicles involved in an accident, and 2.5 for bicycles compared to 1.2 for cars. The greatest risks for two wheels, with fatal accidents, are the Grande Raccordo Anulare in Rome, the SS 601 Ostia-Anzio in the municipality of Rome, the SS 7 in the municipality of Terracina, the SS 16 Adriatica in the municipality of Bari, the SS 18 Tirrena-Inferiore in the municipality of Vietri sul mare.
Moving on to pedestrians, in 2021 there was more than one fatal investment on the SS 16 Adriatica in the municipality of Fano in the province of Pesaro Urbino and on the SS 439 Sarzanese Valdera in the municipality of Massarosa in the province of Lucca. Fifty-three accidents, 21 of which fatal, were recorded along the motorway sections. There are many roads where numerous investments have taken place: various consular posts in the Municipality of Rome and the Tiburtina in the municipality of Tivoli, in addition to the Aurelia in the Municipality of Diano Marina Vallecrosia (Imperia), the SS 227 in the Municipality of Santa Margherita Ligure (Genoa). ), the SS 016 Adriatica in the Municipality of Fano (Pesaro-Urbino), the SS 155 of Fiuggi in the Municipality of Fiuggi and the SS 270 of Ischia Verde in the Municipality of Forio (Naples). Finally, compared to 2019, the roads where accidents and even deaths have decreased the most in absolute value, are the A 51 Tangenziale est di Milano, the Gra di Roma, the A 8 in the province of Varese and the SS 36 del Lake Como and Spluga in the province of Monza Brianza. (Maurilio Rigo)