The Lisbon-Cascais Marginal road is still the worst road accident ‘black spot’ in the country, according to the latest figures from the General Administration of Transport (DGV). Their 2003 report reveals that three people were killed in a total of eight accidents on the road last year. There are now 142 DGV recognised ‘black spots’ on national roads and motorways. According to the DGV’s criteria, a ‘black spot’ is a tract of road extending for a maximum of 200 metres, in which at least five accident victims are registered. The DGV then analyse a series of other indicators to ascertain the level of risk on the road. According to this criteria, Lisbon and Porto are the districts with the most spots – 46 and 31 respectively.
The DGV report also reveals that, although the EN6 (Marginal) has the highest rating, the IC19 registered the highest level of accidents – 16 in total. Other roads with a high number of ‘black spots’ include the EN125 in Faro, the EN1 in Leiria, and the EN9 in Setúbal. The ‘black spot’ on the EN1 in Leiria has already been targeted for improvement by the Portugal Institute of Roads (IEP). A spokesman from the IEP admitted recently that the institute is currently analysing 11 new ‘black spots’ in Lisbon, Santarém and Setúbal, plus one on the A1 which was detected in 2002.
