Norway wins 2025 ETSC PIN Award for outstanding road safety progress

ETSC annual report shows EU still falling short of 2030 road safety goals

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has awarded its prestigious 2025 Road Safety Performance Index (PIN) Award to Norway, recognising the country’s sustained commitment to road safety and long-term success in reducing road deaths.

The announcement comes alongside the publication of the 19th PIN Annual Report, which reveals mixed progress across Europe and a clear warning: the EU is significantly off track to meet its target of halving road deaths and serious injuries by 2030.

Norway: a model of vision and action

Norway remains Europe’s safest country for road users, with just 16 road deaths per million inhabitants in 2024, the lowest rate among the 32 countries monitored by the ETSC PIN programme.

This remarkable performance reflects Norway’s long-standing adoption of a Safe System approach to road safety and continuous innovation in national and local road safety policy.

The award recognises a wide range of strategic initiatives:

• The National Plan of Action for Road Safety 2022–2025 – “Towards Vision Zero”, featuring 179 concrete measures across 15 priority areas, has a target of fewer than 50 annual road deaths by 2030 and aims for zero deaths by 2050.
• A newly launched BEST research programme is strengthening evidence-based policymaking and evaluating both existing and emerging road safety interventions.
• Legislative reforms, such as the 2020 amendment to the Road Traffic Law, now require in-depth investigations of all fatal crashes and mandatory autopsies to support crash analysis.
• Youth-focused safety reforms, including stricter driver training, a double penalty points system for new drivers, and targeted communications campaigns, have reduced deaths among young road users.
• Local innovation includes the Heart Zones programme to ensure car-free areas around schools, and the Traffic Safe Municipalities certification scheme, encouraging community-level road safety leadership.

“Norway continues to show what’s possible when a country commits to road safety at every level – from government strategy to local planning,” said Antonio Avenoso, ETSC Executive Director. “Their results are no accident; they’re the product of clear targets, rigorous implementation, and national ambition.”

EU progress: still too slow

While Norway sets a leading example, the broader European picture is concerning.

According to the 19th ETSC PIN Annual Report, road deaths in the EU27 decreased by just 2% in 2024 compared to 2023.

Since the baseline year of 2019, deaths have fallen by only 12%, far short of the 27% reduction needed by now to stay on course for a 50% cut by 2030.

Some countries have made significant strides:

• Lithuania leads with a 35% drop in road deaths since 2019 and is the only country to halve road deaths over the last decade.
• Belgium, Poland, and Slovenia also report reductions above 25% since 2019.

However, eight countries saw an increase in deaths in 2024, including Switzerland and Estonia. In total, 20,017 people died on EU roads in 2024, and serious injury reductions continue to lag behind death reductions.

The cost of inaction

The report calculates that around 23,800 lives have been saved since 2014 due to road safety improvements. The estimated societal benefit of these saved lives amounts to €60 billion. Yet, had the EU achieved the needed 6.7% annual reduction rate, an additional 49,600 lives could have been saved corresponding to a benefit to society worth €124 billion.

Time for renewed commitment to the Safe System approach

To get back on track, the ETSC is urging both EU institutions and national governments to take stronger action and implement the Safe System approach .

“Norway proves that road deaths are not inevitable – they are preventable. But every country in Europe must now follow their example,” said Avenoso. “We know what works. The real challenge is political will. Without bold national and EU-level action, thousands more lives will be lost unnecessarily.”

Notes to editors:

Download the 2025 PIN Annual Report at:
www.etsc.eu/pin19

Featured photo: Shutterstock

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