Fatal traffic accidents increase in Cuba

Several traffic accidents left dozens of deaths marked the beginning of 2025 in Cuba.

This Monday, a tank truck loaded with alcohol Chocó With a post and exploded in flames in Matanzas, causing the death of a person. The fact was attributed to the little visibility by the smoke of a fire at that point on the road.

The night before They collided two traces In a section of the Central Highway in Camagüey, causing a hydrocarbon and oil spill. The authorities attributed the accident to the «poor state of the road.» This week the news of the Death of singer Paulo FG in a clash against a tourism bus in Havana.

A person in Cuba dies every six days for a traffic accident, and every two occur acts of this type, according to official figures.

Cuban authorities argue that the human factor is responsible for most traffic accidents in the country, but drivers say the problem is largely due to the poor state of the roads, the lack of lighting, signals and the aged automotive park.

«The roads are quite bad, with holes, and with hardly any signaling,» a professional driver told Martí News that he preferred not to reveal his identity for fear of reprisals.

According to the man, who is dedicated to the daily passenger transport on the island, the blackouts influence the amount of accidents that are reported daily in the country. «The traffic lights are turned off, there is no lighting and there are dangerous stretches where there are not even guiding police,» he added.

Another retired driver, who asked not to be identified, stressed the importance of rest for road safety. «The driver’s break is fundamental, and without electricity, we cannot sleep well,» he said, referring to the constant blackouts in the country and affect the recovery of those who spend long hours behind the wheel.

In January of this year there was a serious accident per week and the number of deaths in that period, compared to the previous year, was greater, according to official data, although the number of accidents and injured compared to January 2024 decreased.

The guaguas and trucks that transport passengers are great protagonists of these figures, despite the fact that the amount of people transported on buses in Cuba has gone down in recent years.

Granma, Sancti Spíritus and the Tunas are the three provinces with a tendency to growth in the number of accidents, and in the blind of Ávila and Camaguey they have increased the number of the deceased and injured, said Transport Minister Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, in a Facebook publication.

More than 75 percent of the roads in Cuba are in poor condition, according to official figures. The minister said in January that «the road conservation program has not advanced as we need for material causes.»

The official mentioned how some of the causes «the fuel deficit suffered by the country; the lack of strength specialized in road work, the lack of equipment and the obsolescence of the existing ones», and admitted that «the roads are a pending task» of its portfolio.

Some main roads, such as the Central Highway, which connects the country from Pinar del Río to Baracoa, in the East, has almost 100 years of built, without substantial improvements having been made since then. The manufacture of the National Highway, another main artery of vehicular traffic, was switched in the 90s and was not resumed.

The general conditions of road infrastructure in Cuba generate thousands of comments and complaints of Cubans on social networks every time traffic accidents are announced.

After the spectacular accident of this week in Camagüey, a user said that «in those sections there are many loose animals. In what one day was a road, you have to be very caution when driving.»

«The cars do not serve and less serve the roads, there are no replaced pieces and so we are driving to be able to carry a salary that does not reach at all,» said another in the group’s publication Car accidents in Cubawhich has more than 300,000 members and in which people report accidents that occur in the country.

On repeated occasions, experts on issues related to Cuban roads have referred to the poor state of the roads in Cuba, and have attributed it to the lack of killing and the quality of the materials used.