The EU looks set to fail on reaching its targets to halve the numbers of those killed in road crashes by the end of the decade, with the UK one of several countries currently making no major progress into cutting the numbers of people killed on our roads, IAM RoadSmart has discovered.
In its report this week ‘Ranking EU Progress on Road Safety’ the European Transport Safety Council noted there has only been a 2% decrease in the numbers of those killed in road crashes in the EU in 2017, and only two countries look set to meet the targets set by the end of the decade (Greece and Estonia).
Although progress has flattened in the past four years, the report credits the fact there were 6,350 fewer deaths in 2017 compared to 2010 in EU countries, and a huge 54% drop in fatalities since 2001. Norway and Sweden are the safest countries for road users in Europe.
Some 25,250 people lost their lives on EU roads in 2017, representing a 2% reduction on the 2016 figure. This number has fallen by only 3% in the last four years.
The ETSC has recommended to member states a number of proposals to ensure countries make forward progress, including an integrated road transport policy involving road planners and users, and funding at national and local levels.
Across EU countries, Estonia leads with a 32% reduction in the number of road deaths between 2016 and 2017. It’s followed by Luxembourg with a 22% decrease, Norway with 21% and Slovenia with 20%.
The report said, “The UK, Sweden and the Netherlands have achieved the slowest progress in further reducing road deaths since 2010.”
The UK has gone from 1,905 killed on roads in 2010 to 1,854 in 2014 to an estimated 1,783 in 2017 – a fall of 6.4%.