Brazilian Federal Highways Kill 6,000 and Injure 66,000

The Brazilian Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA) is beginning to analyze the social and economic costs of highway accidents in Brazil.

In a similar study of urban areas, the IPEA reached the conclusion that, in the cities alone, traffic accidents cost the country US$ 2.2 billion (5.3 billion reais) annually.


This calculation takes into account expenditures on medical care, social security, lawsuits, insurance, and infrastructure.


Considering the quantity and seriousness of highway accidents, the coordinator of the study, Iêda Lima, estimates that the study will discover greater financial losses than in the cities.


According to her, 112.5 thousand accidents were registered last year on federal highways alone. Federal Highway Police records indicate that over 66 thousand people suffered injuries and 6 thousand were killed.


The study will first ascertain the costs of accidents on federal highways and, in a second phase, on roads in the state of São Paulo and in other states and municipalities.


“We shall analyze the costs of these accidents by categories of highway, vehicle, and severity of the accidents,” Lima informed. 52% of the accidents occur on just 6 of the country’s 104 federal highways.


Among the chief causes of accidents, Lima pointed to recklessness and speeding. But problems with infrastructure, such as inadequate road signs and poorly maintained thoroughfares, are also factors that contribute to accidents, according to the researcher.


“Our intention is to try to determine a relationship between the segments with the greatest incidence of accidents and the conditions of conservation of the roads,” she said. The study is expected to be concluded in July, 2006.


Agência Brasil

Tags:

You May Also Like

80,000 Homes Not Built in Brazil Due to Red Tape

With its biggest budget in 15 years, Brazil’s Housing secretariat at the Ministry of ...

Starting November Delta Will Fly Non-Stop from Detroit to São Paulo, Brazil

American company Delta Air Lines announced plans to introduce nonstop flights between its Detroit ...

If Brazil’s Bankrupt Varig Is Sold 7,500 Workers Would be Fired and 40 Planes Retired

Luiz Roberto Ayoub, the judge who presides in the Rio de Janeiro business court ...

Mergers & Acquisitions Grow 84% in Brazil This Year

Brazil had a turnover of US$ 57.15 billion in mergers and acquisitions between companies ...

Transgenic Corn Threatens Brazil’s Biodiversity, Says Commission

Next month, Brazil’s National Technical Commission on Biosecurity (CNTBio) expects to begin its analysis ...

Brazil Backpedals and Denies Reprisal Against Argentina

The Brazilian government denied it was thinking on reprisals against Argentina because of the ...

Brazil’s Free Zone Reaps US$ 7 Billion in First Quarter

In the first three months this year, revenues posted by companies based in the ...

Brazil President Tells UN She’d Rather Prevent Conflicts than Fight Them as the US Does

In the speech that opened the 66th United Nations General Assembly yesterday, president Dilma ...

Merck's anti-AIDS drug Stocrin (Efivarenz)

Brazil Threatens to Break More Drugs Patents If Prices Don’t Go Down

Right after signing the decree breaking the patent of Merck's anti-AIDS drug Efavirenz, Brazilian ...

Zelaya Headache: Brazil to Lose Its Embassy in Honduras by the End of January

Brazil is considering extending political asylum to Honduran ousted president Manuel Zelaya who remains ...