From our Bureau of Socialist Road Hazards
Castrogonia has very few vehicles per inhabitant. As of 2019 –the most recent year for which there are any statistics — the island prison had only 755,250 registered vehicles for its population of roughly 11 million, which breaks down roughly to a 1 to 67 per capita ratio. Yes, only one vehicle for every 67 Cubans. This statistic ranks it at 141st place in the world. Most of the nations that score lower than Cuba — as one might expect — are in the Third World.
Yet, with so few vehicles on the road, the number of traffic accidents and deaths continues to climb. Back in 2016 the World Health Organization calculated Cuba’s traffic death rate at 8.5 per 100,000. That’s roughly the same rate as the state of Connecticut, which has a population of 3.5 million and 8.2 traffic deaths per 100,000. Connecticut, however, has 2,867,554 vehicles. That’s roughly one vehicle per person, compared to Cuba’s one vehicle per 67.
Do the math. Riding in a vehicle in Cuba is a lot more dangerous than it might be in places with many more vehicles on the road, and it keeps getting more dangerous with the passage of time. Castro, Inc., as always, blamed Cuban drivers for the high number of crashes and deaths. Socialism in action, again. Blame everything on “the people.”
Slightly abridged and loosely translated from CiberCuba
A total of 9,848 traffic accidents occurred in Cuba between January and December 2022, a record number compared to previous years.
The accidents left a balance of 700 deaths, 68 of them were minors, and 7,547 injured, it emerged at a meeting of the National Highway Commission, according to a report from the official Canal Caribe.
The figure represents almost 1,500 accidents more than in 2021, when 8,369 road incidents occurred throughout the country, with an unfortunate balance of 589 deaths.
Accidents with serious consequences also registered an increase and a total of 60 occurred.
On average, during 2022, some 27 collisions occurred per day, which represents more than one accident per hour. Most of these were reported in the provinces of Cienfuegos, Pinar del Río, Granma, Ciego de Ávila and Havana.
Government authorities pointed out that the irresponsibility and traffic violations of the drivers are among the main causes: excessive passage, excessive speed and loss of control of the vehicle. The official report does not consider the poor condition of the roads as one of the elements that cause accidents in Cuba.
Isn’t it obvious? The problem is that savages shouldn’t have cars or be driving at all. The “vintage car” thing could be handled by a select few for the benefit of tourists, but the rest shouldn’t be behind the wheel.