Over the five day holiday weekend -the 2nd May is a public holiday in Madrid- 56 people lost their lives in 42 fatal traffic accidents, 16 more than last year. 38 others were seriously injured, and 26 less seriously so.

This is the fourth long holiday weekend in a row that has seen year-on-year increases in the number of fatalaties, although this year's Constitution break was four days longer this year than last, and so the daily average was actually lower.

Once again the General Traffic Department (DGT) focused their campaign on the necessity to buckle up given that 37% of the 3,329 victims last year were not wearing seatbelts. And so, around 200,000 roadside checks were carried out to determine seatbelt usage rates, the results of which will be made public over the coming days. However, a similar campaign carried out last year indicates that only 1% of those stopped were caught without their belts on.

21 people died last Saturday, 12 yesterday, 10 on Sunday, and 5 on both Friday and Monday. By region, 10 were killed in Castilla La Mancha and Andalucía respectively.

A quick look back over results achieved by previous DGT campaigns reveals that they are not getting their messages across effectively:

The message for this year's Holy Week campaign was "Do you think you're going to die on the road this holiday? Nobody believes that it's going to happen to them." 108 people died, 48% were not wearing seatbelts.

Last Christmas, the slogan was "Have a good return journey. All I need at Christmas is you." 169 people died. The DGT concluded that the unseasonally fine weather had caused a substantial increase in road user numbers.

For the Constitution holiday weekend last Autumn, the message was "At the wheel, not even a drop of alcohol." 96 people died, which bearing in mind that the holiday extended over ten days, four more than in 2004, means that there was actually a decline in fatality rates.

For last year's All Souls/ Halloween break, the message was "We can't put your seatbelt on for you." 41 people lost their lives. The DGT announced that this encouraging result confirms the downward trend that began in 2003.

The photo is of DGT general director, Pere Navarro.