Holiday travel on Colombia’s roads left 28 killed and 208 injured, in spite of a 66% decrease in accidents from the same period last year.
According to the director of Colombia’s Transit Police, General Carlos Ramiro, there were 128 accidents between Friday 22 and Monday 25 of March, a dramatic reduction on the 674 incidents that took place in the same period last year.
One of the most severe accidents took place on Sunday in Puerto Salgar, located in central Cundinamarca department. A bus carrying staff from a national TV channel came off the road and overturned, leaving two dead and a further 22 injured. The other cases were isolated events that took place throughout Colombia.
Over the four days the police have distributed 4355 fines and immobilized 1764 vehicles.
Approximately 894 motorists were sanctioned for disrespecting regulations, 690 for driving without a licence and 557 people for drunk-driving. A further 283 were fined for overtaking illegally, 222 for speeding and 333 for using cars in “a deplorable state”.
According to the tolls, a total of 253 million vehicles took to Colombia’s roads over the weekend, marking a 12.7% rise in traffic.
