Road death rate in Europe falls to all-time low
Photo by haak78
(BRUSSELS) - An estimated 18,800 people were killed in a road crash last year, an unprecedented annual fall of 17% on 2019, preliminary figures from the EU Commission on road fatalities for 2020 showed Tuesday.
This means almost 4,000 fewer people lost their lives on EU roads in 2020 compared to 2019. Lower traffic volumes, as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic, had a clear, though unmeasurable, impact on the number of road fatalities.
Over the previous decade between 2010 and 2020, the number of road deaths dropped by 36%. This was short of the target of 50% fewer deaths that had been set for that decade. However, with 42 road deaths per 1 million inhabitants, the EU remains the continent with the safest roads in the world. As a comparison, the world average lies at more than 180.
Based on preliminary figures, 18 Member States registered their lowest ever number of road fatalities in 2020. EU-wide, deaths fell by an average of 17% compared to 2019 though the reduction was far from uniform with the largest decreases (of 20% or more) occurring in Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Hungary, Malta and Slovenia. In contrast, five Member States (Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg and Finland) recorded an increase in fatalities although the number in small countries tends to fluctuate from year to year.
Over a longer timeline, the number of deaths on Europe's roads fell by 36% between 2010 and 2020, below the EU target of 50%. Only Greece (54%) exceeded the target followed by Croatia (44%), Spain (44%), Portugal (43%), Italy (42%) and Slovenia (42%). In total, nine Member States recorded falls of 40% or more.
While the unprecedented developments in 2020 led to some changes in the ranking of countries' fatality rates, the safest roads remain in Sweden (18/million) while Romania (85/million) reported the highest rate in 2020. The EU average was 42/million.
Lower traffic volumes, as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic, had a clear, though unmeasurable, impact on the number of road fatalities. However, preliminary data in the US, for example, show that fatalities spiked in 2020 in spite of lower traffic volumes. Indeed, evidence in some EU countries also points to an increase in risk-taking behaviour, in particular speeding, during lockdown periods.
2020 road safety statistics: what is behind the figures?
Commission's road safety work and EU road safety statistics and analysis