Warning to young drivers after 34 die on roads

19 July 2004

MADRID – Spanish traffic authorities appealed Monday to young people to drive more carefully after 12 people under 26 were killed over the weekend.

There were 34 people killed across Spain in 27 accidents in a 48-hour period.

It follows a similarly high death toll on the roads when 38 died the previous weekend, 26 of whom were aged below 30.

Speed and drink were blamed as the main reasons for the high death toll.

The Spanish Traffic Department released details of the crashes in an effort to persuade young drivers to slow down and avoid alcohol when they get behind the wheel.

At least 22 people also suffered serious injuries and another 19 had less serious injuries over the weekend.

In Castilla y Leon, in northern Spain, five people died and nine others were killed in one accident in the early hours of Sunday.

In Castellon, near Valencia, three others were killed and another five badly injured Monday in a head-on crash on the N-340 motorway

In Madrid, two men, aged 24 and 25, died Sunday morning in a car which was driving the wrong way along the road and hit another car which was on the right side of the carriageway.

The driver of the other car suffered serious injuries.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news