Europe's road safety gains

Creation date: 03 July 2009

Across the 27 EU nations, some 39,000 people were killed in road collisions in 2008. This was 15,400 less than in 2001 but still short of the figure of 27,000 that the EU set for itself in its Road Safety Target for 2010.

The average annual reduction since 2001 has been only 4.4% instead of the 7.4% needed. This could delay the EU in reaching the 27,000 target until 2017.

After a particularly bad 2007, 2008 saw a promising improvement in road safety with deaths falling by 8.5%. This has been the best year-to-year reduction since 2001. Estonia (-33%), Lithuania (-33%), Slovenia (-27%) and Latvia (-25%) achieved the best reductions in 2008 but still have some of the highest road death rates in the EU.

The reduction in road deaths in 2008 can be partly attributed to reduced traffic volume following the recent economic recession and relatively high fuel prices earlier in the year. The Baltic States and Hungary were particularly affected, and the UK, France and Germany to a lesser extent.

Over the period 2001-2008, best results have been achieved by countries with a medium level of safety. Luxembourg, France and Portugal, already the top three for their progress up to 2007, keep their leading position with outstanding reductions of 49%, 48% and 47% respectively up to 2008. Spain and Latvia are catching up with reduction of more than 43% for which they have been recognised with the 2009 Road Safety PIN Award at the Conference. Belgium with 38% resumed in 2008 the good progress it was making early in the decade. Good progress was also made by countries with a longer tradition of road safety such as Germany (-36%), Switzerland (-34 %), the Netherlands (-31%) and Sweden (-28%). In Romania and Bulgaria, however, the number of road deaths was higher in 2008 than in 2001. Slovakia and Poland have not made any substantial progress.

Source: World Highways