Paper short abstract:

The recent mediatisation of issues relating to road accidents in Portugal has created a new political environment where, in a rapidly changing setting of mobility, the democratisation of private ownership of the car and the quick expansion of the road network have been major transforming factors.

Paper long abstract:

The recent mediatisation of issues relating to road accidents in Portugal has created a political environment where traditional actors (political parties, technical authorities) have been progressively challenged by civil rights associations, in a rapidly changing setting of mobility, where the democratization of private ownership of the car and the quick expansion of the road network have been major transforming factors. The celebrations of the "remembrance day" ("world remembrance day", since 2005), every year on the third Sunday of November, have been an occasion for various associations to gather with the intention of becoming more assertive as challengers of the political status quo of road trauma in Portugal. The notion of "civil war in Portuguese roads" has become ubiquitous in the media and in people's everyday discourses. The implications - that a state of war and a culture of violence and aggression exist in Portuguese roads - of such vision are discussed in the present paper, with specific reference to the author's involvement with the whole issue.