Tunnels are Safer than RoadsAltogether, there are more than 200 km of tunnels on the Spanish road network and there are 70 km under construction or study. Technicians involved in tunnel engineering share a top priority for each tunnel that they design. It is that security must be exactly the same as on any road constructed in open space. It is so much the case that according to a report from the Spanish Road Association (AEC), accident figures in tunnels are three times less than those on surface roads. However, the consequences of a disaster in a tunnel are much worse than those of an accident in open space. In addition, seriousness increases exponentially as the length of the tunnel increases. 70% of fatalities in tunnels occurred in single-tube bidirectional tunnels. Moreover, according to international studies, heavy vehicles have been involved in 97% of the fatal accidents recorded in tunnels from 1949 and they were involved in 91.6% of fires recorded in the European tunnels between 1949 and 2000. All fatalities in tunnels have been recorded since 1978. The accidents that occurred between 1999 and 2001 claimed 62 lives in three Alpine tunnels under the Mont Blanc between France and Italy (39 victims in March 1999), the Tauern in Austria (12 dead in May 1999) and the Gotthard in Switzerland (11 dead in October 2001), thus accounting for more than half of the recorded victims in tunnels between 1949 and 2000.These tragedies highlighted insufficient safety measures and heightened awareness of a "before and after". They compelled authorities to equip the tunnels with advanced protection systems. In fact, the European Union voted a directive designed to increase the level of security in the tunnels longer than 500 m, whether they are newly built or already in service. The deadline to implement this regulation is 2010. It implies the spending of EUR2.6 to EUR6.3 billion. The economic costs generated by these disasters are estimated at EUR210 million annually by the EU. For example, the closure of the cross-border Mont Blanc tunnel to refurbish it caused for Italy a loss of income of EUR300 to EUR450 million a year. In the Gotthard catastrophe, it became clear that the lack of information to users prevented to evacuate the tunnel as was stipulated in the emergency manuals, particularly if we consider that the tunnel is the second longest in the world (nearly 17 km). This is the reason why it is very important to improve the safety conditions and give drivers all the instructions necessary so that they can to act quickly and efficiently in case of accident. The EU has established a series of recommendations that drivers must follow in case of fire in a tunnel: In case of traffic congestion, keep your distance from the vehicle in front. Unless stated by the emergency services, do not change direction or leave your car. In case of breakdown, switch on your warning lights and stop the closest possible to the right-hand shoulder. If your vehicle in on fire, warn the emergency services from a SOS station and try to put out the fire using an extinguisher. If another vehicle is on fire, pull over to the side as much as possible, to give access to rescue vehicles. In case you have to walk in a tunnel on fire, walk bent over and breathe through a wet handkerchief. Toxic gases take between six and ten minutes to reach the tunnel floor. Visit www.aecarretera.com/NPTuneles.pdf, http://europa.eu.int/~leaflet_es.pdf and http://europa.eu.int/~leaflet_pro_es.pdf On the other hand, the Spanish Royal Automobile Club (RACE) has launched a campaign on traffic in tunnels through an on line simulator which will teach users to circulate inside a tunnel, to recognise a risk situation and to learn what to do. The objective of this campaign is awareness and prevention, through an interactive simulation system which recreates for drivers the traffic conditions in a tunnel. By means of an assessment on each chapter (illustrated with photographs, movies and graphs easy to understand), users will improve and broaden their information having knowledge tests aimed at checking what has been learnt, with the possibility to be corrected in case of error. Visit www.race.es/seguridad_vial/seguridad_tuneles.html 12/05.