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Spain road deaths hit record low in 2014

The Local Spain
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Spain road deaths hit record low in 2014
The number of people seriously injured on Spain's roads fell from 5,278 in 2013 to 4,874 in 2014. Traffic jam at nigh: Shutterstock"

The number of people who died on Spain's roads fell to a record-low 1,131 in 2014, official figures published on Friday show.

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The road toll for 2014 was just below the 2013 figure of 1,134 and the lowest since record-keeping began in 1960.

Last year also marked the first year that Spain saw less than 1,000 fatal accidents on the country's roads, the new statistics reveal. There were 981 such accidents last year.

There was also a drop in the number of people seriously injured in 2014 — down from 5,278 in 2013 to 4,874 last year.

Spain's interior minister Jorge Fernández Díaz said it was become increasingly difficult to lower the road toll and that a target of zero road deaths was impossible. He said however that the country would continue to strive to bring down the road toll.

Road deaths more than halved in European Union in the decade from 2001 to 2012 with Spain being the continent's greatest improver.

Spain's improvement was partly due to huge investment in infrastructure, the European Transport Safety Council said in its 2014 Ranking EU Progress on Car Occupant Safety report.  

The organization also put the good results down to Spain's introduction in 2006 of a penalty points system, with drivers becoming more aware of the dangers of drink driving, speeding, not wearing seat belts or using mobile phones on the roads.  

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