There have been 48 deaths since the start of the year on the department's roads. 4 new deaths Friday December 6. Once again, young people between 18 and 25 years old. Accident figures are increasing compared to 2023.
There have been 48 deaths on the roads of Guadeloupe since the start of the year. An increasing number of victims compared to the previous year. Tragic accidents which mark the archipelago and which leave many families in mourning.
The human toll is striking because the causes are often the same: speed, alcohol, drug consumption or quite simply the unconsciousness of motorists who do not respect the highway code.
And among the victims, more and more young people. Since August, there have been no less than 4 fatal accidents which caused the death of 10 motorists under the age of 25.
Among these 48 killed, there were 24 in light vehicles and 24 vulnerable users including 8 on motorcycles, 1 on quads, 4 on mopeds, 4 on bicycles and 7 pedestrians.
Car accidents therefore represent 50% of deaths and vulnerable users the other half.
Although it is difficult to officially quantify the age categories that are affected, it is clear that the number of young people whose lives end suddenly following a car accident is significant.
Thus of the 48 killed, 10 or 21% are under 25 years old. Accidents that are often extremely violent can sometimes be attributed to the speed or the condition of the vehicles.
This was the case on August 25, when a serious collision between two vehicles occurred in Blanchet, Gourbeyre. A collision which left 5 victims. One of them, a 23-year-old young woman, died.
A month later, on September 7, three other young people, two 18-year-olds and one 19-year-old, lost their lives in Duquerry in Petit-Bourg, when they left the road on a wet road.
Guadeloupe was at that time on alert for heavy rain and thunderstorms.
Then this new accident, on November 18, which added to an already too high toll. It was again in Gourbeyre, this time the vehicle had crashed into a concrete barrier, leaving two young people aged 20 and 30 lifeless.
Finally, on Friday evening, Guadeloupe was again mourned by the loss of 4 young people, following what could be compared to a head-on collision between two vehicles. 3 boys aged 19 and 25 and a young woman who was going to celebrate her 18th birthday on Christmas Eve.
With this macabre observation in mind; It is appropriate to question the behavior of all road users to raise collective awareness in order to put an end to this massacre.
