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(BRUSSELS) – While 2017 showed an improvement in the number of fatalities on Europe’s roads, reaching the EU’s goal of halving road fatalities between 2010 and 2020 will be challenging, according to an EU report.
Preliminary road safety statistics for 2017, released by the European Commission, show a decrease in the number of fatalities of around 2%, or the second year in a row.
25,300 people lost their lives on EU roads in 2017 – 300 fewer than in 2016 (-2%) and 6 200 fewer than in 2010 (-20%).
While this trend is encouraging, says the Commission, reaching the EU objective of halving road fatalities between 2010 and 2020 will now be very challenging.
In addition, it is estimated that another 135,000 people were seriously injured last year, including a large proportion of vulnerable users: pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.
Beside the victims, road fatalities and injuries also affect the society as a whole, with an estimated socio-economic cost[ of 120 billion a year.
The EU executive says it is currently working on a series of concrete measures to spur further substantial progress. “Behind these figures are as many stories of grief and pain,” said Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc: “Road safety is of course a responsibility shared with the Member States, but I believe that the EU can do more to better protect Europeans. The Commission is currently working on a series of concrete measures that we plan to announce in the coming weeks.”
With an average of 49 road fatalities per one million inhabitants, European roads remained by far the safest in the world in 2017. Within the EU, Sweden (25 deaths per million inhabitants), the UK (27), the Netherlands (31) and Denmark (32) reported the best records in 2017. Compared to 2016, Estonia and Slovenia reported the largest drop in fatalities with respectively -32% and -20%.
In addition, the performance gap between Member States further narrowed in 2017, with only two Member States recording a fatality rate higher than 80 deaths per million inhabitants (Romania and Bulgaria).
The new road safety framework for 2020-2030 under discussion could include a revision of the European rules on vehicle safety, on infrastructure safety management and an initiative for the safe transition to cooperative, connected and autonomous mobility.
The Commission is planning to present these measures in spring 2018.
Commission memo: 2017 road safety statistics: What is behind the figures?
Annex
Road deaths per million inhabitants
Preliminary country by country statistics for 2017
| 2010 | 2016 | 2017 | 2016-2017 | 2010-2017 | |
| Belgium | 77 | 56 | 55 | -3% | -26% |
| Bulgaria | 105 | 99 | 96 | -4% | -12% |
| Czech Republic | 77 | 58 | 54 | -6% | -28% |
| Denmark | 46 | 37 | 32 | -13% | -28% |
| Germany | 45 | 39 | 38 | -1% | -13% |
| Estonia | 59 | 54 | 36 | -32% | -39% |
| Ireland | 47 | 39 | 33 | -15% | -25% |
| Greece | 112 | 76 | 69 | -10% | -41% |
| Spain | 53 | 39 | 40 | 2% | -25% |
| France | 64 | 54 | 53 | -1% | -13% |
| Croatia | 99 | 73 | 80 | 8% | -22% |
| Italy | 70 | 54 | 56 | 3% | -18% |
| Cyprus | 73 | 54 | 62 | 15% | -12% |
| Latvia | 103 | 80 | 70 | -14% | -38% |
| Lithuania | 95 | 66 | 67 | 0% | -36% |
| Luxembourg | 64 | 56 | 47 | -13% | -25% |
| Hungary | 74 | 62 | 64 | 3% | -16% |
| Malta | 31 | 51 | 43 | -17% | 46% |
| Netherlands | 32 | 31 | 31 | 0% | -1% |
| Austria | 66 | 50 | 47 | -5% | -25% |
| Poland | 102 | 80 | 75 | -6% | -28% |
| Portugal | 80 | 54 | 62 | 14% | -31% |
| Romania | 117 | 97 | 98 | 1% | -19% |
| Slovenia | 67 | 63 | 50 | -20% | -25% |
| Slovakia | 65 | 51 | 57 | 12% | -13% |
| Finland | 51 | 47 | 39 | -18% | -22% |
| Sweden | 28 | 27 | 25 | -6% | -5% |
| United Kingdom | 30 | 28 | 27 | -5% | -7% |
| EU | 63 | 50 | 49 | -2% | -20% |
