The preliminary 2017 road safety statistics released by the European Commission this month showed for the second year in a row, a decrease in the number of fatalities of around 2%.
25 300 people lost their lives on EU roads in 2017, which is 300 fewer than in 2016 (-2%) and 6 200 fewer than in 2010 (-20%). While this trend is encouraging, 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. All this calls for fresh efforts from all actors to make European roads safer.
The Commission is currently working on a new road safety framework for 2020-2030, together with a series of concrete measures contributing to safer roads. This 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.
For more information, please visit the European Commission’s website.
Source: European Commission
