Skip to main content

EU road fatalities fall by 11% in 2010

The European Commission has published new statistics showing that EU road fatalities decreased by 11 per cent in 2010.
February 28, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The 2465 European Commission has published new statistics showing that EU road fatalities decreased by 11 per cent in 2010. However, country by country statistics show that the number of deaths still varies greatly across the EU. Most countries achieved double-digit reductions in the number of road deaths over the past year, including Luxembourg (33%), Malta (29%) Sweden (26%) and Slovakia (26%).

European Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas, responsible for transport, said: "It is very encouraging that nearly all member states have managed to significantly reduce their number of road deaths, but there is no room for complacency. A hundred people still die on Europe's roads every day. We have made good progress since 2001 and we have succeeded in saving nearly 100,000 lives. But the number of fatalities and injuries on our roads is still unacceptable. We want to cut the number deaths by half by 2020. For this we will be looking at what kind of cars people drive, where they drive and how they drive."

Data from vehicle insurance companies has shown that certain makes and models have higher than average accident levels. Statistical analysis has identified an array of popular vehicles that are involved in insurance claims for accident damage. However no study has yet been carried out as to why certain vehicles are involved in accidents at above average numbers. It is not clear which combination of factors, such as vehicle design shortcomings or driver behavioural characteristics, hold sway. Vehicle manufacturers are also extremely reluctant to reveal which models suffer the highest risk of accidents.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • A new road safety drive will cut crashes in Europe
    February 22, 2013
    The ERF is amongst the campaigners for a safer road network. Safety is of crucial importance given the large number of fatalities on Europe’s road network. In 2012 alone, more than 30,000 people died on European roads, resulting in a negative impact on social, economic and health factors. Road safety has become a priority not only for the EU institutions but also at international level for the United Nations with the launching of the Decade of Action for Road Safety. Traditionally, improvements in road safe
  • South Korea’s shocking road safety situation
    November 28, 2012
    South Korea suffers from an appalling rate of road crashes, acccording to a new report published by the Korea Transport Institute. The report investigated crash data from the 29 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. This revealed that South Korea has the highest road fatality rate of those 29 nations. In 2010, South Korea saw an average number of road deaths hit 11.3/100,000 individuals. Drilling down further into the data revealed that in 2011, pedestrians in North
  • Road safety improving, but vulnerable road users need protection
    January 11, 2013
    Preliminary data from France over the number of fatalities on the road network reveal safety improvements during 2012. The numbers killed dropped by 7-8%, although the final figures for December are not yet available. The preliminary figures suggest that around 3,600-3,700 were killed on French roads in 2012, compared with 3,970 in 2011. This reduction is in line with targets on cutting the death rate and Ministry of the Interior wants to bring the fatality rate to just 2,000 by 2020. This reduction has bee
  • Thailand’s major road safety problem
    October 23, 2015
    Thailand has a serious problem with regard to road safety, which needs to be addressed. This is leading to a high number of deaths and serious injuries, with a draining effect on the country’s economy as well as carrying a social impact. The 2015 Global Status Report on Road Safety published by the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows that Thailand has the second-highest road-fatality figures globally. There were 14,059 people killed in road crashes in Thailand in 2012, with the country having a death rate