Dangers of driving at night in Spain: 276,000 accidents and 6,500 deaths in ten years

A total of 276,000 traffic accidents happened on Spanish roads at night between 2013 and 2023, new data shows. The accidents resulted in 6,500 deaths, a 24.5% increase in that decade. More than half of these night-time accidents happened before midnight, with the most common head-on collisions.

This is according to a study which looked at night-time driving in Spain and the associated risks, accident rates and opinions of motorists. The study, undertaken by Línea Directa Foundation in collaboration with the Foundation for Road Safety (Fesvial), was presented on Tuesday 26 November.

According to experts, vision is reduced by 20%, affecting the perception of speed, the ability to identify signs and peripheral and depth vision. Glare from lights, drowsiness, and 'road hypnosis', make night driving a risk for many motorists, the study pointed out.

Although this type of accident "only" accounts for a third of the total number of deaths in traffic accidents, their lethality is much higher than that of daytime accidents, as they account for 55% more deaths than daytime accidents (1.7% more deaths out of the total number of victims compared to 1.1% in daytime accidents) and, qualitatively, 10.5% more serious injuries (7.4% compared to 6.7%). Between 2013 and 2023, more than 1,500 pedestrians and more than 1,300 motorcyclists lost their lives in night-time accidents, accounting for 24% and 20% of all fatalities.

The study, which analyses all night-time accidents recorded over the past decade, includes a survey of 1,700 drivers, which points out their opinions and habits regarding night-time driving.

Mar Garre, director general of Línea Directa Foundation, said: "Night driving presents many more risks than daytime driving, so we need to be extremely careful if we have to get behind the wheel at night". "Simple measures such as keeping windows clean and in good condition, headlights properly adjusted, looking away slightly in the event of glare or taking regular rest breaks on long journeys can help us to avoid unnecessary risks," she added.

According to the study, the most common victim in night accidents is a man of about 38 years of age, on average, and with almost 20 years of driving experience. The most common vehicle in these accidents is usually a standard passenger car, present in 78% of night-time accidents, of which tend to occur in urban areas. However, accidents in interurban areas are generally much more lethal due to a number of factors, including speed.

In terms of time, night-time accidents tend to occur mainly at the beginning of the night (before midnight), with 54% of accidents, although they also increase at the end of the night (after 6am), with 22%, but proportionally, the most lethal accidents are recorded between 3-5am. As for the day of the week, the most critical times tend to occur on Fridays and Saturdays (16% in both cases), while the months with the most amount of accidents tend to be November and December (14% in both months).

The most common accidents are head-on collisions (20%), rear-end collisions (17%) and run-over accidents (12%), while the most serious accidents are overturns, head-on collisions and run-over accidents, according to the study.

By type of occupants, the most common victims are drivers, followed by passengers and pedestrians, although the fatality figures are very different between them. In the case of pedestrians, the fatality rate is 4.2% of victims in night-time accidents, compared to 1.6% for drivers and 1% for passengers.

Línea Directa Foundation also drew up a map of where night-time accidents occur by region, reflecting the proportion of fatal accidents at night over the past decade. By region, Navarre (5.8%), Castile-La Mancha (5.1%) and Castile-León (4.1%) are the regions with the highest proportion. At the other end of the scale are Madrid (1.1%), Catalonia (1.3%) and the Basque Country (1.5%). The national average stands at 2.2%, according to the study.