According to latest figures published by the National Road Safety Authority ANSR, the number of collisions on the region’s roads has risen almost by a 1,000 to just over 7,500. Fatalities in the region are also up by more than 60 percent, having risen from 19 up to October last year to 31 in 2015.
Serious injuries have also increased, climbing by more than 25 percent to a total of 136.
The EN125 road, which has seen traffic increase dramatically since the introduction of tolls in 2012 on the A22 motorway, is regularly the scene of collisions and the route most likely on which to have an accident in the Algarve.
While tolls on the A22 have been blamed by rescue services and local residents for the rise in fatalities in the region, there were also a handful of collisions which resulted in several deaths, which has seen the region’s road safety record take a battering.
On a national level, 365 people lost their lives on Portuguese roads between 1 January and 7 October, up 25 from last year and translates into an increase of 7.3 percent.
The number of collisions also rose, climbing more than 4,000 to just under 90,000 during the period in question.
Serious injuries resulting from road collisions have risen to 1,647 so far in 2015 as opposed to 1,573 last year.
These figures were released shortly before news that five people were injured over the weekend after three vehicles crashed on the EN125 in Odiáxere, near Lagos in the Algarve. Two of the victims involved in the crash sustained serious injuries.
Emergency services had to cut one of the victims out of the mangled vehicle. All of the victims were taken to Portimão hospital and traffic was affected in the area for two hours.