14ymedio, Havana, 7 March 2022 –The poor state of Cuban streets has claimed another life. This time it was Yunior Tabares Magdariaga, 21, who died this Sunday after losing control of his motorcycle when he fell into a hole on Calvario street, in the city of Santiago de Cuba.
The young man, a resident of the town of Los Altos de Quintero in the north of the city, suffered a spectacular fall from the moving motorcycle that caused his death, according to several Internet users in the Facebook group Bus & truck accidents.
User Mario Yarisdel Gerpi Aldana explained that the young man was apparently traveling at excessive speed and did not see a detour sign that alerted drivers to the presence of a hole in the road, the product of a work in progress. Others complained about the delays in repairing the crater in the central street and the poor protection around the open ditch.
Just at the beginning of this month, the National Road Safety Commission (CNSV) warned that during the past year 70% of Cuban provinces there was in increase in accidents, due in part to an increase in motorcycles that can cause more traffic accidents.
In Havana, Matanzas, Sancti Spíritus and Ciego de Ávila not only do the incidents grew, but also the numbers of wounded and deceased, while Guantánamo province reduced all three indicators.
The authorities offered the final account of accidents last year, which amounted to 8,369. There were also 589 deaths and 5,859 injuries, good news to Reinaldo Becerra Acosta, secretary of the CNSV, who stressed that the downward trend has continued in the last 10 years.
The authorities once again attribute responsibility to the human factor, which is responsible for 94.2% of accidents while “only 5.8% are due to technical failure.” However, the error persists of ignoring that a modern vehicle and healthy roads minimize accidents and, consequently, victims.
The island’s mobile fleet has grown by 1.7% in the last five years and, in particular, the registration of motorcycles and mopeds accounted for 5.5% more vehicles on the roads. “This will negatively influence traffic and road safety, increasing congestion and the probability of accidents occurring, also due to the vulnerability of these means,” warned Becerra Alonso.
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