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THERE is a road accident every eleven minutes in the Balearic Islands, which makes it one of the most dangerous regions in Spain to drive in, according to figures released yesterday by insurance company Unespa. Fridays were the worst day for bumps and collisions on the roads in 2004. However these were minor accidents that only damaged the vehicle and did not involve injury or death for drivers or passengers. There were 1.8 million of these minor accidents reported throughout Spain last year, this is an increase of 2.2 percent from 2003, said a spokesperson from Unespa. Twenty-five days have been highlighted in 2004 when most accidents happened on the roads and motorways (only vehicle damage), and 18 of these were Fridays. This day is the most likely day for drivers to be involved in a road crash because more people are on the roads, travelling to visit friends and family, informed Unespa. Five of the remaining days were Mondays and the others were a Tuesday and a Wednesday. Friday, 20 February, was the day when most road accidents took place in Spain, a total of 7'593 accidents. The worst month for accidents was June, when 12.2 percent more accidents happened compared to the average for the rest of the year.
This was attributed to the increase in people travelling to their holiday homes for the summer.
The month with fewest accidents was August last year, 15.4 percent less than the average, the reason for this decrease is because most Spanish people are on their summer holidays relaxing on beaches during this month and not on the roads, said Unespa. Madrid and Barcelona had a traffic accident every 2 minutes and 5 seconds in 2004.
This makes them the worst Spanish regions for road accidents.
They are followed by Valencia, with road accidents happening every 4.5 minutes, and Alicante and Seville with an accident every 6.5 minutes.
Malaga is the next most accident prone region, where there was a crash every 7 minutes, then Murcia (every 9.5 minutes), and then Cádiz, Vizcaya, La Coruña and the Balearic Islands (11 minutes). The safest Spanish regions are Ceuta where there is only a road accident every 7 hours.
This is followed by Melilla (every 3 hours and 47 minutes), Soria (2 hours and 37 minutes) and then Teruel (every 2 hours and 20 minutes).