GNR. Reorganization of the traffic unit yet to be defined

The Minister of Internal Administration said this Monday that she still does not know what she will do to reorganize the national traffic unit of the National Republican Guard (GNR) foreseen in the Government's program to reduce road accidents.

“I can’t answer that question because I don’t know . I know that it’s a concern of ours, a common concern, the huge number of road accidents that still mark Portugal, which must be avoided and prevented ,” Maria Lúcia Amaral told journalists, at the end of the handover of 20 renovated apartments in Lisbon to the GNR.

In the area of ​​road safety and as one of the measures to reverse the trend of increasing number of accidents on Portuguese roads, the Government program highlights that a reorganization of the GNR Traffic Unit will be carried out “in order to increase its operational capacity”.

Last week, at the ceremony marking the day of the GNR's national traffic unit, the minister reaffirmed the department's commitment to reorganizing this unit, although she did not say how she would do so .

The national traffic unit, which has existed since 2009 after the dissolution of the Traffic Brigade, has a limited number of officers, which does not reach 200, and is dedicated to special road safety inspection actions. The GNR also has officers dedicated to traffic who are in the traffic detachments of the 18 territorial commands of mainland Portugal.

Provisional data from the National Road Safety Authority (ANSR) show that this year there were 71,049 accidents, 349 more than in the same period last year, which caused 219 deaths (12 fewer), 1,282 serious injuries (23 fewer) and 21,084 minor injuries (542 fewer).

The minister also said that on Tuesday she will have a meeting with the Mayor of Lisbon. Carlos Moedas said last Friday that he had been waiting for a meeting with Maria Lúcia Amaral for over a month .

These 20 new GNR homes were rehabilitated as part of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) by the Social Services of the National Republican Guard (SSGNR) and are intended for military personnel of the corporation and their children who are studying in Lisbon.