Brasília – Last year, expenditure on road accidents in Brazil amounted to R$ 17.7 billion (US$ 7.3 billion). If all roads were good or great, the country would have saved up 737 million litres of diesel, or the equivalent of R$ 1.79 billion (US$ 740.3 million). Carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere would also be reduced by 1097 million tonnes.
These financial and environmental losses are caused by the poor quality of Brazilian roads, says the National Confederation of Transports (CNT). This Thursday (16th), the CNT has released the results of its 2014 Road Survey, spanning 98,475 kilometres of roads, up 1,761 kilometres (1.8%) from the previous survey.
According to the survey, out of a road network of nearly 1.7 million kilometres, only 12% are paved, or 203,500 kilometres. “In broad terms, there was a slight 1.7% improvement from last year [in the length of roads considered good or great],” said CNT’s CEO Bruno Batista. As per the survey, 37.9% of Brazilian roads are in good or great shape; 38.2% are in regular conditions; 17% were considered to be in poor conditions and 6.9% were said to be in very bad shape.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
