EU Roads Much Safer

Publication date: 26 April 2010

in grey: road Fatalities 2001(risk rate)
in blue: road Fatalities 2009(risk rate)

In 2001, the European Union fixed itself the objective of halving the amount of road casualties by 2010. The EU is currently preparing a new European Road Safety Action Plan that will set the European strategy for the decade to come.

Using provisional data on road fatalities for 2009, compiled by the FIA European Bureau in the EU 27, a comparison with 2001figures (base year for the present strategy) highlights the tremendous improvements achieved by most member states.

The biggest relative improvements have been achieved in France, Portugal, Spain, Latvia and Luxembourg. During the same period however, Romania and Bulgaria recorded an increase in road fatalities.

Risk rates are defined here as the number of road fatalities per million inhabitants.