Concern at lack of progress on cutting EU road deaths

Concern is being expressed in the EU over an increase in road deaths for 2015 compared with 2014. Road deaths from crashes grew by 0.5% to 26,112. Although the increase is slight, The EU is trying to reduce road deaths and the figures for 2015 are of concern. The stated aim for the EU in the 2010-2020 period is to halve road deaths, but progress now looks to have faltered. Finland saw an increase in road deaths of 16%, while the Netherlands and Austria saw road fatalities rise by around 11%. Most dangero
November 21, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Concern is being expressed in the 3287 EU over an increase in road deaths for 2015 compared with 2014. Road deaths from crashes grew by 0.5% to 26,112. Although the increase is slight, The EU is trying to reduce road deaths and the figures for 2015 are of concern. The stated aim for the EU in the 2010-2020 period is to halve road deaths, but progress now looks to have faltered. Finland saw an increase in road deaths of 16%, while the Netherlands and Austria saw road fatalities rise by around 11%.

Most dangerous for road fatalities in the EU are Bulgaria and Romania with close to 10 deaths/100,000 inhabitants. Malta has the lowest rate of road deaths in the EU, followed closely by Sweden. The reason for this lack of improvement in road safety in the EU has not been revealed. But early data from the US for example reveals distracted driving (and particularly the use of cellphones for making calls, using the Internet, sending emails or texting) is on the increase. The use of cellphones at the wheel is known to present a major hazard to road safety.

It is worth noting though that the EU’s roads are markedly safer now than in past years. Road deaths in the EU’s 28 nations are around 40% of what they were in 1995. And the peak road death rates in Europe were in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

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