Road Safety Priority Call

June 2019

The number of people killed on EU roads fell by just 1% last year, and by just 4% over the last five years, according to the latest European Transport Safety Council Road Safety Performance Index Annual Report.

The EU target to cut road deaths in half over the decade to 2020 now looks out of reach. The ETSC say meeting that target would require an unprecedented 21% reduction per year in 2019 and 2020.

In many Member States, road safety has been deprioritised in recent years, with cuts to traffic police enforcement, and a failure to invest in safer infrastructure. 

Need more information? Contact us today

The EU’s biggest and boldest recent road safety initiatives - an update to minimum vehicle safety standards and a significant increase in the scope of infrastructure safety management rules – were only finalised in the last 12 months, after several years of delay. These new measures will also take several years to take full effect, so ETSC is calling on the new European Parliament and Commissioners to make road safety a priority from day one.

The European Commission is expected to announce the publication of a Road Safety Policy Framework for the period 2021 – 2030, which will give an indication of future policy initiatives, including a set of key performance indicators for EU Member States on issues including speeding, drink driving and distraction. 

Antonio Avenoso, ETSC Executive Director commented that road deaths and injuries in the EU are still unacceptably high, with around 500 deaths every single week, the equivalent to three Boeing 737 planes crashing and killing everyone on board. 

Share this