On April 25, 1974, Portugal agreed to democracy and freedom. A Revolution of the Children has finally reached a half-century of education and opens the way to a more pluralistic, open and, also, more mobile society. The freedom conquered on this historic day is not translated as soon as I do not vote or do not directly express books - they also follow the streets and the way all Portuguese people will be able to move around their country.
During the New State, mobility was limited, especially since I lived outside two large urban centers. The roads were poor and poorly maintained, the public transportation was scarce, and car driving was a privilege reserved mostly for men — many women needed their husband's authorization to drive or travel alone.
Portugal in Motion
Upon entry into the European Economic Community, in 1986, it was the starting point for a true revolution on Rhodes. These highways connect Portugal from north to south and between the interior and the coast. Between 1981 and 2009, the country experienced a great transformation in accessibility, with two travel times and greater territorial equity. Nearest cities and isolated regions will have facilitated access to services, education and health.
Roads such as A1 and A2 become the backbone of national mobility, representing coesão, the progress and an evident increase in road safety. The old IC1 — via high sinisterity — has become an alternative to A2, a solution that will save lives and connect the South to the capital more quickly and efficiently.
Technologically, the national road network also stands out for innovations such as the Via Verde system, pioneering the automatic payment of trains and fully developed in Portugal.
As mulheres na condução
April 25 also represents the conquest of freedom for women. Before, access to a driving letter could be conditioned by conservative norms and family structures. After the revolution, with equality enshrined in the Constitution, women will begin to lead in freedom — a symbol of autonomy and active participation in public life.
Here, only a few people drive, work in the mobility sector or lead road safety projects. A progress that would be unthinkable without freedom brought about by democracy.
Revolution is also in the times
Freedom of movement also requires clear rules adapted to the new times. The Road Code has been undergoing various revisions since 1974, accompanying the increase in the number of vehicles, social transformations and road safety requirements.
The most notable alterations include:
- 1973-1976 : Establishment of two first speed limits for localities: 80 km/h on national roads, 100 km/h on highways. These values were published in 1976 for 90 km/h and 120 km/h, respectively.
- Decades of 80 and 90 : The growth of the road network led to the need for greater regulation — in 1994, or Decree-Lei No. 114/94 reformulated the Road Code, with new categories of infrações, priority rules, alcohol levels and specific measures for heavy vehicles.
- 2000 em diante : Introdução de gras mas crisasas sobre as chainirinhas para crianças, o brigatório use of the belt on the back benches, to penalização do use of the telemóvel ao steering wheel (serious violation since 2020), and the rules for mobility on bicycle or trotinete, for example.
- 2020 : Updates to accommodate electric vehicles, reduced emission zones and incentives for more affordable and sustainable mobility.
Freedom is also the ability to move
In 50 years, Portugal took an extraordinary path in mobility. The New State's elaborate roads are safer and more efficient highways. Give gender exclusion to equality on the wheel. Do rural isolation in the national league. Urban chaos in search of intelligent solutions.
It is in this chart of technological evolution and increase in road safety that Help Flash is inserted. An essential “tool” for a driver who values his life and the two remaining drivers of the roads and which includes the need to keep himself visible in cases of breakdown or accident. As we know, and in the image of what is happening in Spain, this luminous security device will not soon be able to be a legal alternative to the traditional triangle. This would be an unequivocal sign of evolution on the Portuguese roads.
