Every 15 kilometers traveled along the 10 most violent federal roads in Minas Gerais – BRs 040, 050, 116, 153, 251, 262, 354, 356, 365 and 381 –, the driver passes a point where accidents occur. more than five disasters, on average, in a stretch of a thousand meters – a distance equivalent to leaving from Praça 7 to Vilarinho Station, in Belo Horizonte. This is what data on disaster occurrences recorded by the Federal Highway Police (PRF) in 2023 and compiled by the Estado de Minas report show.
Where is there a greater concentration of accidents in BRs in MG? Data surprises
In total, these roads are 370 kilometers long, where more than five incidents were recorded during the period. Most of the accidents occurred on BR-381 (Fernão Dias), in Betim, in Greater BH, where six of the 10 worst kilometers in this regard are located. Among the 10 deadliest kilometers, three are on BR-040, another three on BR-116.
In 2023, the EM reporting team showed that the curve at Km 509 of BR-251, in Francisco Sá, in the North of Minas, was the most violent point on Minas Gerais roads, with nine deaths in four years researched, with the curve on a steep descent from Km 528, BR-381, in Brumadinho, the most violent in Greater BH, with seven deaths in the period. The new research shows that, last year, the deadliest thousand meters of federal highways in Minas were at Km 525 of the same BR-381, also in Serra de Igarapé, where nine people lost their lives in 12 months.
BR-135: from mud to dust, discover the highway of delay in the North of MG
The survey shows that this deadliest segment in the state is doubled, tolled, with separation between driving hands and recorded a total of 11 accidents and 47 injuries in 2023. Most of the victims were on board the bus chartered by Corinthians fans who went to Mineirão to watch a match against Cruzeiro, on August 20, 2023, when the transport vehicle lost control in the curves on a steep descent and overturned after crash into a ravine, leaving seven dead and 36 injured.
Residents of a city in Minas Gerais fear a pole falling on BR-135
The São Paulo direction of BR-381 recorded all accidents with deaths at Km 525. The segment begins after a steep five-kilometer descent through the Serra de Igarapé. A test of the braking system and engine braking control skills, especially for drivers of heavy vehicles. In 130 meters you reach the bridge over Córrego dos Queias and in 300 meters, the curve that the driver of the bus with fans, now without brakes, tried to get around, hitting the embankment hard, tipping over and sliding sideways along the asphalt.
According to incidents recorded by federal highway police officers, most of the accidents on the stretch were rollovers (four), followed by lane departures (three), demonstrating that drivers were unable to negotiate sharp curves. Two factors highlighted in the PRF agents’ notes help explain the reasons: in five cases, the speed reached by the drivers was above the limit for the stretch and in three there were problems with the brakes, an indication of maintenance failures.
The two deadliest points in the sequence had almost half of the victims, recording five deaths each, both on BR-116. The second worst kilometer in the state is in Manhuaçu, in Zona da Mata, at Km 581, part of a system of straights after a sequence of curves, a single lane with signs for overtaking towards Rio de Janeiro, but which cuts through an area of high local circulation. of vehicles. Two of the accidents were run overs, but the disaster with the most victims occurred, according to the PRF, due to the driver having fallen asleep and colliding head-on with another vehicle, causing four deaths.
The third worst segment of a thousand meters, also on BR-116, is in Muriaé, the same region, at Km 715, where five people died and 20 were injured in six accidents. The location is a 450 meter straight, after a sequence of curves and little visibility for overtaking. At this point, five accidents were mainly caused by excessive speed, according to the PRF. The agents also recorded that in three disasters there were lane departures and, in another three, head-on collisions with vehicles traveling in the opposite direction.
Km 603 of BR-040, the fourth deadliest in Minas Gerais, is in Congonhas, in the Central Region of the state, in the village of Pires. It is a strong curved descent. Of the eight accidents, six occurred due to irregular, prohibited or careless access to the track from the town or nearby mining companies, killing four people and leaving 12 injured.
The risk when traveling through Greater BH
The Metropolitan Region of BH concentrates 80% of the 10 one-kilometer stretches where the most accidents occurred on federal highways in Minas Gerais in 2023, according to data from the Federal Highway Police (PRF). Of these, the three with the most crashes and pedestrian accidents occurred in Betim, on BR-381 (Rodovia Fernão Dias), also responsible for the 7th, 8th and 10th thousand-meter segments with the most accidents. BR-040, in Ribeirão das Neves, has the 4th and 6th most violent brands in this statistic.
To give you an idea of how dangerous it is to drive along these stretches, the worst of them, Km 485, in Betim, recorded 37 accidents in one year, leaving one person dead and injuring 44. It was as if every 27 meters, an accident occurred , on average, throughout the year.
If only the six kilometers of Betim are considered, which are among the 10 most violent, there would be 192 accidents in six kilometers, an average of one crash, run over, rollover or departure from the road every 32 meters. They practically form a sequence, comprising Kms 484, 485, 486, 489, 490 and 492, a route that goes from the height of the Gabriel Passos Refinery (Regap), passing through the Fiat factory, PTB and Jardim Petrópolis neighborhoods, to the interchange between the Center and the Jardim Casa Branca neighborhood.
Many industries, many problems
As it is one of the most important corridors in the state, in a stretch full of industries and logistics warehouses, but also with local and regional access, the route has its own characteristics and accidents in different situations than those normally reported on high-speed roads and more fluid traffic. .
There are 11 kilometers of intense traffic, where a total of 254 accidents were recorded in 2023. A consistent traffic corridor for the transport of heavy loads with local, regional, intercity and interstate destinations.
A route that, despite having a record number of accidents, can be considered spacious, since 60% of the stretch is dual carriageway, 34% multiple lanes (more than two) and only 5.1% on the sidelines of one lane. However, the history of traffic jams and slow traffic, especially during peak hours, gives an idea of the volume of traffic this section can handle.
Fight for space on double lanes
Space and visibility are not guarantees of accident prevention on this segment of the Fernão Dias Highway in Betim, since the majority of occurrences recorded by the PRF in 2023 occurred on straights, totaling 131 occurrences (52%), while 23 (9%) were in straights on descents and 21 (8%) were in straights on climbs.
The most frequent types of accidents show a struggle for scarce space on occupied roadways. Among the most frequent occurrences, federal highway police officers recorded 62 rear-end collisions (24%), 53 side collisions between vehicles traveling in the same direction (21%), 35 overturns (14%) and 21 pile-ups (8%), in which more than two vehicles were involved, often due to not maintaining adequate safe distances.
Another characteristic of the cargo flow corridor is that 35 (14%) of the accidents occurred due to collisions with objects, most of which were fragments or parts of cargo that were being transported and fell to the pavement, as well as parts and even parts of vehicles, such as tires capable of causing serious crashes in the case of trucks and trailers.
The incidents described by federal highway police officers also give an idea of the actions or lack of actions that led drivers to get involved in accidents on this stretch of Fernão Dias in Betim. Of the accidents with established causes, 64 (25%) occurred due to the driver’s lack of reaction; another 35 (14%) occurred after poorly executed lane change maneuvers; and 27 (11%) were related to late or inefficient reactions by drivers
What the statistics show
To show which are the most violent segments of Minas Gerais roads, the Estado de Minas reporting team was guided by experts to separate the roads by kilometer, considering the sections with more than five accidents, a count considered in work by the National Department of Infrastructure of Transport (Dnit), State Department of Highways (DER-MG) and Federal Highway Police (PRF). From this first filtering, the kilometers where the most deaths occur, those where the most accidents occur and the concentration of kilometers with the most disasters among the BRs evaluated were established.
