Juliana Andrade
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - There were 40.54% fewer deaths and 9.7% fewer injuries on Brazil's federal highways this year during the New Year's holidays, in comparison with last year. But the number of accidents rose 7.96%.

These data were released today (3) by the Federal Highway Police, which commanded Operation New Year on 60 thousand kilometers of the federal highway network.

1519 accidents were registered, as against 1407 in 2004-05. There were 66 fatalities, compared with 111 in 2004. The number of injuries fell from 1154 to 1049.

Operation New Year began on Friday (30) and ended yesterday (2) at midnight. A study by the Federal Highway Police shows that during the period of year-end celebrations, there is a 50% increase in highway vehicle traffic.

Translation: David Silberstein