Eurostat figures show a slight decrease in road deaths in 2023, but with thousands dying every year, what is the EU doing to change the situation and save lives?

20,380 people were killed in road accidents in the EU during 2023, a decrease of 1.3 percent compared with 2022, according to statistics published by Eurostat on Tuesday.

The figure has fallen by 16 percent between 2013 and 2023. While numbers are down, there are significant differences between countries.

Among the EU Member States, nine registered 50 fatalities or more per million inhabitants; Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia, Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Lithuania, Italy, and Poland.

At the other end of the scale Sweden, Denmark, Malta and Finland reported the lowest numbers, with 22, 27, 30 and 33 fatalities per million inhabitants, respectively.

Three of the four non-EU countries that Eurostat also released data on, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland, reported relatively low rates of 20, 21 and 27 people per million.

Although the underlying 2023 road accident data had already been made available by the European Commission in March through the CARE database, Eurostat's release marks the official publication of its own statistical interpretation of that data.

Preliminary figures for 2024 show that the number of road fatalities in the EU continue to decline, albeit slowly, with a drop of 3 percent.


Who are the most at-risk groups?

There are also large gender disparities in the Eurostat statistics. Men accounted for almost three quarters of road accident fatalities between 2013 and 2023 in the EU.

Studies show that men are more likely to drive after drinking alcohol, wear seat belts less frequently, speed more often and become distracted by phone use behind the wheel.

Alcohol consumption is a significant factor in road deaths. In Spain, for example, it is responsible for 26 percent of fatal road accidents.

'Boys are encouraged to take risks from a young age,' said Shirley Delannoy of Belgian traffic institute VIAS in an interview with Belga news agency in February. 'Girls, on the other hand, are socialised to be more cautious and to follow the rules.'

She believes these gender norms translate into driving habits, with women tending to be more defensive and preventive, while men drive more assertively and take greater risks.

According to Pavel Havránek from the Czech Transport Research Centre, fatal accidents caused by overtaking are on the decline in Czechia. He also noted a drop in the number of victims among children, young drivers, pedestrians, and in crashes involving alcohol.

'On the other hand, we are concerned about the unsatisfactory number of deaths of cyclists, seniors and motorcyclists. We must focus on these risk groups and areas in order to achieve further improvement,' he adds.


Bulgaria rocked by death of 12-year-old girl

The high numbers of road deaths in some EU countries has led to public anger.

Road safety came under intense public scrutiny in Bulgaria after the tragic death of a 12-year-old girl in a crash on a national road in the north of the country at the end of March.

Thousands of protesters across multiple cities and towns demanded an end to the 'war' on the roads, calling for tougher laws and harsher penalties for traffic offenders.

In an interview with AFP in October 2024, Krasimir Arsov, whose 14-year-old son Filip was killed in a car accident, blamed reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and an inefficient justice system for the high number of fatalities.

In September 2023, Filip was run over by an inebriated driver in Sofia whose speed of 88 kilometres per hour was three times the limit.

'Before the accident I thought that we were living in a normal country,' Arsov, a 60-year-old engineer, said. 'But when I spoke to relatives of other victims, I realised that the state is not protecting the lives of its citizens.'

Since the fatal crash, Filip's parents have been fighting to raise awareness of the issue to bring about change.

'There is nothing that can mend what has happened to us,' said his mother, Nikolina Petkova.

But she decried a 'feeling of impunity' among offenders, a widespread lack of compliance with the laws and a failure to punish offenders. 'The man who killed our son was convicted of drunken driving 18 years ago, but got away with a simple fine and reoffended,' she said.

In response to the country's poor record, Bulgarian authorities announced plans to improve safety on 36 critical road sections, aiming to cut casualties and injuries by 20 percent.

The Road Infrastructure Agency has also published a detailed map highlighting accident hotspots and introduced an action plan to make these areas safer, which will be updated weekly.


Other EU countries are also bringing in stricter rules

In Italy, new laws were passed in November 2024 to increase fines and make it easier to suspend the licence for those who drive with a mobile phone in their hand or under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

An incoming change is a good example of this. The country has a special system in which 15-year-olds are allowed to drive what is formally considered a 'tractor', with a maximum speed of 30 km/hour, without a proper licence.

For many years, these 'tractors' have been mostly used in rural areas, with low traffic and poor public transport. However, new technical rules made it easier to use 'tractors' that look like normal cars, by modifying their speed limit to 30 km/hour. This has led to a surge in their popularity and a big rise in the number of serious accidents.

New rules, decided during the revision of the European driving licence directive, are going to change this. The 15-year-olds will still be able to drive their special cars, but they will need to obtain a driving licence through mandatory practical and theoretical tests. At the same time, the 'tractors' will be allowed to go at a maximum speed of 45 km/hour.

Education also plays a key role in keeping road deaths down, says Robert Štaba, president of the European Federation of Road Accident Victims. He is involved in the Vision Zero project in Slovenia and the country is currently on track to reach its target of a 50 percent reduction in road fatalities by 2030.


EU wants to cut road deaths

Tighter rules are also coming at an EU level. The bloc has a long-term goal of close to zero road deaths by 2050.

The European Commission proposed an overhaul of the EU's road safety and vehicle registration legislation last Thursday to help to achieve this.

'The EU is firmly committed to cutting road fatalities and serious injuries by 50 percent by 2030,' said EU Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas.

The proposal foresees periodic technical inspections for electric vehicles, taking into account the growing number of battery-powered vehicles on European roads and emerging technologies.

Highly polluting vehicles, including tampered ones, are to be detected using new emission testing methods.

Mobility across European borders is to be simplified through the exchange of electronic vehicle registrations and periodic testing certificates via a common platform. Odometer readings stored in national databases are to be exchanged across EU borders.

Cars and vans older than 10 years are to be technically inspected annually.

The European Parliament and EU member states still have to give their approval before the new rules can come into force.

The EU also provisionally agreed in March on driving bans that would apply across the 27-country bloc.

Under the new rules, any member state's bans on or restrictions for a driver over a serious road traffic accident will also apply in the country where the individual's driving licence has been issued.

_________________________

Fact Check: Speed limits increase road fatalities

When it comes to road safety, speed limits are often a focus of discussion. In Germany, a connection is made in some claims between speed limits on highways and an increased number of traffic fatalities. But the figures don't support this.

Read dpa's fact check in German here.

The content of this article is based on reporting by AFP, ANSA, Belga, BTA, CTK, dpa, EFE, LUSA, STA, TT, as part of the European Newsroom (enr) project. AGERPRES (editing by: Mariana Ionescu)