Skip to main content

Fall in EU road fatalities

Latest statistics show road fatalities fell in the European Union by 11% in 2010 compared with the previous year. Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Spain, Luxembourg, Sweden, France and Slovenia have all made reductions of more than 50% in the number of deaths on their roads since 2001, says the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC). The organisation’s 2011 PIN [Road Safety Performance Index] Awards went to Sweden and Lithuania recognising their particular efforts in reducing road deaths.
May 10, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Latest statistics show road fatalities fell in the 1116 European Union by 11% in 2010 compared with the previous year.

Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Spain, Luxembourg, Sweden, France and Slovenia have all made reductions of more than 50% in the number of deaths on their roads since 2001, says the 1197 European Transport Safety Council (ETSC).

The organisation’s 2011 PIN [Road Safety Performance Index] Awards went to Sweden and Lithuania recognising their particular efforts in reducing road deaths.

Indeed, most EU member states saw a double digit drop in the number of road fatalities, with the highest reductions being seen in Luxembourg, Malta, Sweden and Slovakia (33%, 29%, 26% and 26% respectively), while Belgium also saw better than average road safety improvements during 2010, with the number of fatalities on its roads declining by 12% in 2010 (76 deaths for every 1 million inhabitants). Since 2000 the number of deaths on Belgium's roads has fallen by 44%, while in the EU the number of road fatalities is down 43%.

In July 2010 the European Commission adopted proposals to lower the number of road deaths in Europe by 50% by 2020.

In Germany, the country’s Federal Statistics Office, 5143 Destatis, says the number of people who died in road traffic incidents dropped 12% to 3,648 in 2010 compared to 2009, the lowest fatality rate on the German road network for 60 years, which is of note given the increase in population, vehicle numbers and total distance travelled by road.

However, the number of accidents registered by the police rose by 4.3% to an 11-year high of around 2.4 million.
However, in Romania, acknowledged as having the worst road system in the EU, followed closely by Bulgaria, the risk of serious injury or fatal accidents on its road network is eight times higher than for Sweden, which has Europe's best road safety record.

A study by the ETSC reveals that in 2009, 2,796 people died on Romanian roads, compared to 2,454 in 2001, an increase of 14%.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Drink driving an issue for Taiwan
    March 22, 2012
    Official statistics from Taiwan's Ministry of Interior show that in the first 11 months of 2011, there was a 3.28% increase in the number of road accidents that resulted in injuries or deaths, compared with the same period in the previous year. The number of traffic accidents that resulted in deaths at the scene of the accident or within a 24 hour period climbed 3.47% to 1,847 compared with the previous year.
  • The new agile world of the construction equipment industry
    June 22, 2015
    while worldwide for 2015 a crystalball would be helpful, in Europe the sector has already listed specific priorities it wants to tackle, and among these are the upcoming emissions regulations (see separate story), external trade and access to foreign markets, and market surveillance.
  • Latest data shows Spain’s road crash rate falling
    November 26, 2012
    The latest official statistics from Spain reveal and improvement in road safety, with a reduction in the number of those killed or seriously injured on the country’s roads. In 2011 there were 2,060 deaths caused by crashes on Spanish roads in 2011, a 13% drop from the previous year. These figures include those people dying within 30 days of a crash
  • Improvement in road safety in many counties worldwide
    April 13, 2015
    Official data shows an improvement in road safety across Europe as well as many other key nations worldwide. Of the 36 nations worldwide contributing data on road safety, the consensus is that conditions are improving, albeit with greater effect in some countries. Some countries have been particularly effective in reducing road deaths in this period, most notably Iceland which has seen a drop of 71.9% in road deaths. Spain, Denmark, Portugal and Ireland have also seen huge improvements in road safety with