Skip to main content

Europe’s road safety improves

Europe’s road safety is seeing steady improvement.
By MJ Woof September 1, 2020 Read time: 1 min
Road crashes, injuries and fatalities have been reduce in Europe over the last 14 years - image © courtesy of Mike Woof

Road safety in Europe has seen steady improvement over the last 14 years, according to the latest official data. While vehicle numbers have continued to increase during this period, fatalities from road crashes have fallen.

Since 2006, vehicle numbers have increased by around 45 million, a jump of 16.8%, to around 312 million. However, in spite of this, road fatalities have fallen 42.4% to around 25,000.

This shows the continued gains in road safety through a series of measures. Eastern European nations have typically scored poorly for road safety but a range of measures have helped lower the casualty rate. Injuries and crashes have also been reduced.

Related Content

  • Enforcement lack affects safety on Europe’s roads
    June 17, 2016
    Insufficient police enforcement across Europe is damaging road safety, according to the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC). Two reports available through the ETSC say that a fall in the level of police enforcement of traffic offences is contributing to Europe’s failure to cut the numbers dying in road collisions. More than 26,000 people died on EU roads last year, the first increase since 2001 according to the ETSC annual road safety performance index (PIN) report. Exceeding speed limits, drink or
  • US road safety record
    April 26, 2012
    The latest official statistics from the US on road accidents show that fatality levels on the nation's roads have dropped to the lowest figures seen for more than six decades. The information was released by US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, revealing that highway deaths fell to 32,885 for 2010, the lowest level since 1949.
  • Road safety improvements and challenges worldwide
    May 24, 2012
    Road safety is again hitting the headlines worldwide, with new data showing accident reductions being achieved as well as highlighting areas for improvement. Several European nations showed major safety improvements. In Spain, the Home Affairs Office has published encouraging information revealing that the number of fatalities from car accidents fell in 13 out of the country's 17 autonomous regions during 2010. La Rioja region reported a drop of 47%, the best improvement in Spain, while the regions of Astur
  • UK’s road safety statistics
    October 3, 2022
    The UK’s road safety statistics for 2021 have been released.