Accidents with dangerous cargo have fallen in SP, but the biggest risk comes from the car behind

The state of São Paulo recorded 467 accidents in the road transport of dangerous products in 2025, a drop of 4.69% compared to the 490 occurrences in 2024. The survey is contained in the Annual Report of Occurrences in the Road Transport of Dangerous Products, prepared by the study and prevention commission linked to the Secretariat of Environment, Infrastructure and Logistics (Semil).

Despite the retraction, the report points out that 30 occurrences resulted in fatalities – a number that keeps the alert on. For the Brazilian Association of Transport and Logistics of Dangerous Products (ABTLP), any result other than zero is unacceptable, as it involves human lives and impacted families. The number of deaths, says the association, deserves attention even in the face of the general improvement in the indicators. According to the president of the entity, Oswaldo Caixeta, the reduction in claims reflects continuous investments in driver training, risk management, preventive maintenance of the fleet and monitoring and control technologies.

Among the types of accidents, rear-end collisions led, with 36% of the total, followed by collisions (15%), side collisions (12%) and overturns (11%). For Caixeta, the predominance of rear-end collisions shows that the risk is not restricted to the vehicle that transports the cargo, but also to the behavior of other drivers who share the highways.

The report also identified a concentration of occurrences between May and July, the most critical months of the year. July recorded the peak, with 49 accidents.

The data has already been applied in practice. An example is the Cargo Vehicle Combination (CVC) course, created by ABTLP in partnership with Sest Senat after the analysis pointed to a relevant number of overturns with this type of vehicle. The survey will also serve as the basis for the “Claims Panorama: Road Transport of Dangerous Products in the State of São Paulo 2025”, which will be launched soon and should help carriers identify risk factors and direct investments in training, technology and management. The material should also subsidize regulatory agencies and inspection teams that work in the logistics chain.

Founded in 1998 and operating nationwide, ABTLP offers training and technical and legal advice to the sector and considers that the sector still faces challenges. “Safety in the transport of dangerous products is the result of the commitment of all those involved in this chain. We need better highways, safe areas for stopping and an environment that values companies that invest and work correctly,” says Caixeta.