Publications
Exceeding speed limits, drink- or distracted- driving, and failure to wear a seatbelt are among the important factors leading to death and serious injury on European roads. Road safety laws have been adopted to guide drivers in their behaviour. Many comply with them willingly. Others, however, would be less likely to comply if it were not for fear of being detected and sanctioned. This is where traffic law enforcement comes in. This report gives an overview of the current state of road traffic enforcement […]
This report looks at the progress made in Europe in reducing road deaths among young people. It is based on the latest available data from the 32 EU and non-EU countries that participate in ETSC’s Road Safety Performance Index (PIN) programme, examining trends over time as well as differences between countries, which are very significant. The format, now familiar to readers of past PIN reports, comes in three parts: Part 1 looks at road deaths, Part 2 at serious injuries, and Part 3 at […]
In 2011 the European Union set the ambitious target of halving the number of road deaths between 2010 and 2020. This was the second decade-long EU target period, the first having begun in 2001. This report looks at the progress made towards the 2020 target in EU Member States as well as other countries covered by ETSC’s Road Safety Performance Index (PIN) programme. The EU has set two new targets for 2030, again to halve road deaths, and also to halve serious injuries. This […]
In March 2020, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, most European governments put in place unprecedented restrictions on travel and movement including border closures, lockdowns for most of the population, closure of schools, workplaces, shops, leisure and sport facilities. This report assesses the impacts that had on road deaths in Europe during the month of April 2020 – by which time most countries were in lockdown. Out of 25 EU countries for which data is available, 19 saw a decrease in the number of […]
22,660 people lost their lives on EU roads in 2019, representing a 3% reduction compared to 2018. Out of the 32 countries monitored by the ETSC Road Safety Performance Index (PIN) programme, 16 reduced road deaths in 2019. The best results were achieved by Luxembourg with a 39% decrease, Sweden with 32%, Estonia with 22% and Switzerland with 20%. Road deaths increased in 12 countries, while progress stagnated in four. While there has been progress over a longer period, it is not enough to […]
A letter from ETSC to European Commission for Transport Adina-Ioana Vălean on prioritising transport safety during and after the COVID-19 crisis. Download the letter.
The European Union (EU) is facing a multitude of interconnected demographic, public health and environmental challenges: the climate is changing; road deaths are stagnating; urbanisation is increasing, air pollution is worsening, obesity is rising and the population is ageing. But there is an increasing recognition at local, but also national and EU level, that boosting the levels of active mobility, particularly walking and cycling, can play an important role in overcoming many of these challenges. Such a policy will also have economic benefits. Based […]
This report aims to provide an updated overview of the drink-driving situation in Europe, covering 32 countries: the 28 Member States of the European Union together with Israel, Norway, the Republic of Serbia and Switzerland. It looks at country progress in reducing road deaths attributed to drink driving over the past decade. The report highlights specific legislation and enforcement measures from across Europe. A range of recommendations concerning further improvements in tackling drink driving are made to Member States and the EU institutions throughout […]
In 2010, the European Union renewed its commitment to improve road safety by setting a target of reducing road deaths by 50% by 2020, compared to 2010 levels. This target followed an earlier target set in 2001 to halve the number of road deaths by 2010. A new target to halve road deaths and the first target to halve the number of serious road traffic injuries by 2030 compared to 2020 levels were announced by the European Commission on 17 May 2018. 25,047 people […]
Cities and towns are home to 72% of the population of the European Union. These are the places where the majority of journeys begin and end. These urban centres face multiple, often conflicting needs and challenges when it comes to managing the way people and goods move around. The nature of these challenges is also evolving. Urban populations are increasing, the population is ageing, people are being encouraged to walk and cycle more as concerns over congestion and air pollution move up the political […]
Speed is a major factor in overall road safety performance. Excessive and inappropriate speed is accountable for about one third of fatal collisions and is an aggravating factor in most collisions. 2,100 lives could be saved each year if the average speed dropped by only 1 km/h on all roads across the EU. Speeding on different types of road In the EU, 37% of all road deaths occur on urban roads. Among the countries that monitor levels of speed compliance on urban roads countrywide, […]
In 2010, the European Union renewed its commitment to improve road safety by setting a target of reducing road deaths by 50% by 2020, compared to 2010 levels. This target followed an earlier target set in 2001 to halve the number of road deaths by 2010. A new target to halve road deaths by 2030 compared to 2020 levels was announced by the European Commission on 17 May 2018. 25,250 people lost their lives on the EU roads in 2017, representing a 2% reduction […]
The goal of this PIN flash report is to gather information on road death data collection in different PIN countries and to find out if and how countries cross-check or complement road death data recorded by the police with alternative sources. The aim is to provide information to exchange good practice on how to improve road death data collection and recording. In all PIN countries the primary source of road death data collection consists of police records. Police data are, and should remain, the […]
Every day in the European Union, more than thirty children are seriously injured and two are killed in road traffic collisions. More than 8,100 have died over the last decade. The impact of these deaths and life-changing injuries on families and communities is immeasurable. But they also carry an economic cost, which diverts resources that could have been used for education, improving health or other social goods. Children are particularly vulnerable road users. They lack experience and are less visible to other road users […]
In 2010, the European Union renewed its commitment to improve road safety by setting a target of reducing road deaths by 50% by 2020, compared to 2010 levels. This target followed an earlier target set in 2001 to halve road deaths by 2010. Since 2014, progress has virtually ground to a halt. 2016 was the third consecutive poor year for road safety: 25,670 people lost their lives on EU roads compared to 26,200 the previous year – a 2% decrease. But this followed a […]
A third of road deaths in the EU are caused by collisions that involve a single motorised vehicle where the driver, rider and/or passengers are killed but no other road users are involved. These single vehicle collisions (SVCs), and how to prevent them occurring, are the subject of this report. Nearly 7300 road users lost their lives in 2015 in SVCs in the EU. Around 94,800 people have died in such collisions in the last ten years. Across the EU, the total number of […]
Since 2010, the European Commission has been committed to introducing an EU-wide strategic target to reduce serious road traffic injuries. In 2013, the crucial common definition of serious injuries to be recorded and tracked was approved. A target was finally expected to be set in the first half of 2015, having been promised ‘shortly’ in a Commission press release of 24 March and by Commissioner Bulc’s presentation of the EC Work Programme at the Transport Committee of the European Parliament on 6 May. On […]
Since 2010 the number of people seriously injured in the EU has been reduced by just 1.6%, compared to an 18% decrease in the number of road deaths in the same group of countries. The majority of countries have reduced road deaths at a faster pace than seriously injured since 2001. In 2014, more than 203,500 people were recorded by the police as seriously injured on the roads in the EU, representing an increase of almost 3% compared to 2013. There is strong political […]
Around 138,400 pedestrians and cyclists lost their lives on EU roads between 2001 and 2013. 7,600 were killed in 2013 alone. Deaths among pedestrians and cyclists, who are the most vulnerable road users and whose use of the roads is being encouraged for reasons of health and sustainability, account for 29% of all road deaths across the EU. Pedestrians killed represent 21% and cyclists 8% of all road deaths. But big disparities exist between countries. Moreover, there is a high level of underreporting of […]
Organisations are increasingly aware of the business case for introducing road safety management programmes to reduce work-related road risk. The many benefits include cutting preventable injuries, mitigating losses associated with collisions and boosting corporate social responsibility efforts. The focus of this report is to give an overview of the issues specific to managing young drivers at work. Evidence shows that young people have the highest collision involvement of any road user group. This report looks into the direct and indirect factors associated with higher […]
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