Over HRK 1.3 Billion Collected From Motorway Tolls in January-September Period

In the first nine months of last year, 42.14 million vehicles used Croatian motorways, as the Croatian Association of Toll Motorways Concessionaires (HUKA) reported on Thursday.

The proceeds from the toll charges amounted up to HRK 1.33 billion (VAT excluded).

The traffic along motorways in the January-September period of 2006 rose by 5.6 percent, and the proceeds climbed by 23.62 percent, in comparison to the first nine months of 2005.

The Croatian network of motorways covers 1,049 kilometers with four companies managing them.

Starting from January 2006 until the end of September 2006, 1,993 traffic accidents occurred on national motorways, representing an increase by 390 accidents as compared to the same period in 2005.

The number of accidents claiming lives and the number of fatalities dropped, but accidents with participants being injured and with material damage were on the rise. In the first nine months of 2006, 45 persons lost their lives in 31 motorway crashes.

However, according to preliminary statistics covering the entire 2006 year, road accidents in Croatia claimed the lives of 610 persons. This also includes accidents occurring on all types of roads and in all kinds of traffic accidents.

With the expected final confirmation of the figures, this will mean that there were 13 more fatalities in 2006 than in 2005.

The 2005 year was marked with the lowest number of fatalities since the Croatian police began keeping official statistics in 1965.

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