The Commission has adopted an ambitious Road Safety Programme which aims to cut road deaths in Europe between 2011 and 2020. The programme sets out a mix of initiatives, at European and national level, focussing on improving vehicle safety, the safety of infrastructure and road users' behaviour.
Road Safety is a major societal issue. In 2011, more than 30,000 people died on the roads of the European Union, i.e. the equivalent of a medium town.
For every death on Europe's roads there are an estimated 4 permanently disabling injuries such as damage to the brain or spinal cord, 8 serious injuries and 50 minor injuries.
Main Figures
Infographics
The Commission’s Road Safety Programme for the period 2011-2020 aims to cut road deaths in the EU by 50% between 2010 and 2020. The new framework for 2021-2030 sets out ambitious road safety plans to eliminate deaths and serious injuries on European roads by 2050. This includes a further 50% reduction target for deaths and the same target, for the first time, for serious injuries by 2030.
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The Commission monitors Member States progress through a series of reports and publications:
- Press release “Road safety: 4 000 fewer people lost their lives on EU roads in 2020 as death rate falls to all time low”
- Memo “What is behind the figures”
- Key Figures 2020 - Road safety targets
- monitoring report, November 2020 (reporting period 2010-2019)
- Data table – number of road deaths and rate per million population by country, 2010-2019