EU cites 'alarming' slowdown in reducing road fatalities
Photo © Volker Hammermeister - Fotolia
(BRUSSELS) - There has been an "alarming" slowdown in EU road safety improvements, with 26,000 people killed last year, little changed from 2014, and 135,000 seriously hurt, the European Commission said Thursday.
The Commission, the EU's executive arm, said these accidents cost the 28-nation bloc "at least" 100 billion euros ($114 billion) in healthcare and material repair but insisted its roads "remain the safest in the world".
"Every death or serious injury is one too many. We have achieved impressive results in reducing road fatalities over the last decades but the current stagnation is alarming," EU Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc said.
"I invite member states to step up efforts in terms of enforcement and campaigning. This may have a cost but it is nothing compared to the 100-billion-euro social cost of road fatalities and injuries," Bulc said.
The toll in 2010 was 5,500 higher than last year, the Commission said, citing the figures as evidence of earlier progress towards its target of halving road deaths by 2020.
Bulc said technological change, especially the likely switch to automated or "driverless" cars, offered "great potential" in reducing accidents.
2015 road safety statistics - background guide
