• According to a study done by Autopistas, more than half of the vehicles exceed the speed limit on the highway, and 3% use their mobile phones while driving.
• Given the forecast of mobility in a private vehicle during the San Juan festivities, the Abertis Foundation aims to raise awareness of the risks of breaking road safety regulations, such as using a mobile phone while driving, exceeding the established speed limit or driving after drinking alcohol.
• The action has the collaboration of Autopistas -Abertis subsidiary in Spain-, the Institut Guttmann, Cruz Roja and the General Directorate of Traffic. 

The Abertis Foundation, in collaboration with Autopistas, the Institut Guttmann, Cruz Roja and the General Directorate of Traffic, launches today "Yo te llevo", a new communication campaign to alert and raise awareness among citizens of the risk involved in breaking the rules of road safety, such as using the mobile while driving, exceeding the established speed limit or driving after drinking alcohol. The action begins today in view of the high mobility by car expected during the San Juan festivities, which are celebrated in various geographical areas. More than 30,000 vehicles are expected to move daily on the highways of Catalonia between Wednesday 23rd and Sunday 27th.

Speeding on highways

According to the "Observatory on the behavior of drivers on the highway network during the COVID-19 pandemic" presented by Autopistas, a subsidiary of the Abertis Group in Spain, in December 2020, there are still many drivers who do not respect the limits speed on the highway.

In 2020, the reduction of traffic on the highway due to mobility restrictions provoked by the pandemic caused an excess of confidence in drivers and influenced the fact that 58% of light vehicles and 53% of heavy vehicles drive by above the allowed limit.

In an accident with inadequate speed, the probability of dying or suffering serious injuries is greater, since speed reduces the ability to react to an unforeseen event and causes the so-called “tunnel effect”, an effect by which our field of vision goes away reducing inversely proportional to the speed at which we circulate. In other words, the more kilometers per hour, the less field of vision we have, which also ends up reducing our ability to anticipate.

The use of the mobile phone, a dangerous distraction

In the study, Autopistas also found that 3% of drivers continue to use their phones while driving. This recklessness involves visual, cognitive and manual distraction. When we dial a number on our mobile while traveling at 120 km/h, we blindly travel a distance of 429 meters, the equivalent of about 4 football fields, a distance that is extended if, for example, we write a message.

According to data from the DGT, almost a third of serious and fatal traffic accidents are caused by distraction, the use of the smartphone being the first of them. Accidents in which the misuse of the mobile phone is present while driving take almost as many lives as those in which a driver is drunk. Using WhatsApp - or other instant messaging applications - while driving increases the risk of accident by 134%, and yet 43% of young people use it while driving.

New awareness campaign in collaboration with the Institut Guttmann and Cruz Roja

The new communication campaign "Yo te llevo" shows three situations that prove that recklessness causes accidents that can bring about serious consequences and even death. The campaign shows that, if we do not keep to the rules, other vehicles “can take us”, but not precisely where we want to go. The campaign is available on the Abertis Foundation website and social networks https://fundacioabertis.org/?lang=en and it has had the collaboration of the Guttman Institute and Cruz Roja, both entities with which the Abertis Foundation has a long-term relationship.

The Institut Guttmann is a pioneer neurorehabilitation center with which the Abertis Foundation collaborates, especially within the framework of the “Rights of Way” project, within the alliance between Abertis and UNICEF to prevent traffic accidents in children. Medical teams from the Institut Guttmann specialized in the treatment of injuries of neurological origin travel to the countries identified in the program to carry out training sessions and advice to local doctors on the best practices applied for the prevention and treatment of derived injuries of traffic accidents.

For its part, the Abertis Foundation has also collaborated with Cruz Roja for years. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Foundation has collaborated with the organization to help finance and develop social protection programs for groups in situations of special vulnerability (older people living alone, sick, or at risk of poverty or social exclusion ) that have been directly or indirectly affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

About the Abertis Foundation

The Abertis Foundation was born in 1999 as a non-profit entity, with the aim of responding to the impact that the economic activity of the Abertis Group has in the different territories and countries where the Group is present.

In line with Abertis' commitment to road safety, the Foundation periodically carries out high-impact campaigns on road safety, such as “El Apagón” or “Puedo Esperar”. Also, Abertis has a global alliance with UNICEF to prevent traffic accidents that affect children, and the Foundation participates as a member of the United Nations International Committee on Road Safety.

In addition to road safety, the Foundation's strategy also includes action on the environment (it houses the UNESCO Center for the Mediterranean Reserve Network), as well as social and cultural action, in line with the Abertis Group's Sustainability strategy.

Link to download the campaign video: https://we.tl/t-txsLcqz7EZ

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