The increase, which is the first in almost a decade, comes after 288 people have lost their lives so far in 2017, a figure which is up from the 239 deaths recorded between January and July last year.
According to figures from the National Road Safety Authority, ANSR, the number of accidents was also up on last year, including those which result in both serious and slight injuries.
The regions worst affected by this spike in road fatalities are Setúbal, where deaths doubled over the first seven months of the year when compared with 2016, along with the Algarve, where the number of people who lost their lives on the region’s roads climbed by 43 percent.
This comes after one of Portugal’s most prominent national car associations, the Automóvel Clube de Portugal (Automobile Club of Portugal - ACP), last month slammed the Portuguese government’s approach to road safety, saying “it is not a priority” for the State.
The ACP said at the time that national awareness-raising campaigns about road safety are urgently needed, as is an “effective inspection” of driving education.
“Road accidents have increased at a worrying rate this year, without the Government having realised it and without taking structural measures to combat this problem”, the ACP said.
The car club’s comments came after the State Secretary for Home Affairs, Jorge Gomes, said he had ordered “more awareness-raising and inspection actions” aimed at drivers, to stop the increase of
accidents.
Speaking during a ceremony to mark the GNR National Traffic Unit’s eighth anniversary, State Secretary Gomes said he considered the rise in road deaths “worrying”.