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

  • Safer highway and bridge construction in the US
    May 21, 2025
    New data from ARTBA reveals safer highway and bridge construction in the US.
  • Tackling Europe’s urban road safety problems
    June 12, 2019
    Urban road safety is a key problem in Europe, an issue that needs to be addressed as a priority. That is the finding of a new report by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC). The ETSC’s report reveals that road deaths on urban roads decreased at around half the rate of those on rural roads over the period 2010-2017. The report also shows that vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, account for 70% of those killed and seriously injured on urban roads. Dovilė Adminaitė-
  • iRAP: cost of road deaths and injuries continues
    August 26, 2024
    Road deaths alone are estimated to cost US$753 billion annually, according to the latest annual Safety Insights Explorer report.
  • The US needs to address its road safety problems
    November 8, 2019
    The US has serious road safety issues that need to be addressed. In 2018, close to 36,600 people were killed in road crashes, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The fatality rate for 2018 represents a 2.4% drop from 2017. In addition, the road death rate/160 million vehicle km traveled also decreased by 3.4%, from 1.17 in 2017 to 1.13 in 2018. And the NHTSA says it is the lowest fatality rate since 2014. Nearly 36,600 people died on US roadways last year, a