“The Government is very concerned about this situation,” said the Minister of Home Affairs, Luís Neves, at the end of a meeting in Cuba, in the district of Beja, as part of the “Roadmap for Engagement with the Fire Service” tour he has been conducting across the country.

Rise in road accidents over Easter

Speaking to journalists, when asked about the rise in road accidents this Easter compared to the same period in 2025, the Minister acknowledged the increase, adding that it extends to the quarter as a whole.

“The first quarter of this year also shows figures, both for fatalities and injuries, that are much higher than those of last year during the same period,” he said.

Police operations

The GNR and PSP operations over Easter, which ended on Monday, recorded 20 fatalities and 53 serious injuries in 2,602 road accidents.

In a statement, the Ministry of Internal Administration announced that it will shortly present a package of strategic measures, covering the short, medium and long term, relating to road safety,

Comprehensive plan

Speaking to journalists in Cuba, Luís Neves indicated that “a comprehensive plan” would be presented in the “coming days” to seek to reverse these figures, based on a “strategy that is to be approved”.

“We will consider the issue of the Highway Code and a closer relationship with the Public Security Police (PSP) and the National Republican Guard (GNR) because, in fact, there are behaviours that are unacceptable,” he argued.

When asked by the Lusa news agency whether he could ‘lift the veil’ on some of the strategic measures, the Minister of Internal Affairs considered that this was not the right time.

“First, it will have to be within the Government itself, but the right time to disclose them will come very soon,” he said.

Priority

Referring to the presentation of the Annual Internal Security Report (RASI) last week, Luís Neves noted that, “of the four or five most relevant points”, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro had referred to road safety as “one of the issues on the table”.

“It is the Government’s responsibility, but it is also the responsibility of the public and a matter of civic duty. And we are going to be, in fact, very relentless in addressing what is happening,” he promised.

The Minister emphasised that there are “increasingly better vehicles” and “better roads”, so the analysis of the rise in road accidents must also take into account “the attitude and behaviour” of people.

“We have many deaths, we have many people injured who are left with lifelong disabilities. It is a profound sadness for the families and for the individuals themselves, and we have to turn this whole situation around through collective effort,” he argued.

Most common problems

Speeding, drink-driving, driving without a licence, and distraction – particularly due to mobile phone use – are issues that have been identified and “remain the most significant, leading to tragedies that are collective tragedies”, he listed.

And, he emphasised, “the instructions the Government will issue will be very clear”, because “there can be no serious lapses”, such as driving “at 180 [kilometres] an hour, at 200 an hour, or causing fatal collisions within cities”.

“This behaviour must stop,” he warned, also disagreeing with warnings about locations where the police place speed cameras: “Excuse me, but are we warning offenders in advance of what the State, from a preventative, enforcement and also punitive perspective, is seeking to do?”

“We want to find medium- and long-term measures very quickly, but there has to come a point when we reverse this ‘status quo’,” he emphasised, stressing that “there are many deaths on the roads, many families destroyed, many people—especially young people—whose lives are left in tatters” and that we must reverse this trend.