Home Menu Search

Safer Roads, Safer Cities: How to improve urban road safety in the EU

1 July 2019

Story from the ETSC.

Tackling urban road safety must be a key priority for the European Union and European countries over the next decade, according to the European Transport Safety Council, authors of a new report.

Pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists – the three most vulnerable road user groups – represent 70% of those killed and seriously injured on urban roads.

One of the key challenges for cities is enforcing safe speed limits.  Among the countries that monitor levels of speed compliance on urban roads countrywide, between 35% and 75% of observed vehicle speeds in free-flowing urban traffic are higher than the 50 km/h limit.

The report also found vast differences in the level of safety across the European Union.  Mortality on urban roads is highest in Romania with 105 road users killed annually per million urban inhabitants – four times the EU average.  But there are also several countries leading the way.  Around nine people per million urban inhabitants are killed on urban roads in Sweden, 11 in the UK, 13 in the Netherlands and 14 in Ireland and Spain.

For the full story please click here.

To download the report please click here.

Related news, events and information

Ireland’s leadership on road safety is “a model for the European Union”

19 June 2019 – Story from the ETSC. Ireland is the winner of this year's European Transport Safety Council Road Safety...

Countries making the most progress on road safety in Europe.

17 June 2020 – The Baltic States, together with Greece and Portugal, were the best performing countries in the EU according to...

EU goal of halving road fatalities by 2020 will now be 'very challenging'.

13 April 2018 – Story from RoadSafety GB. The European Commission says reaching the EU goal of halving road fatalities between...

Speed Limits reduced in France

1 August 2018 – As reported by ETSC Two-lane roads with no separating guard rail in France have had their default speed limit...

Research News from TRB

27 February 2007 – PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE CRASH ANALYSIS TOOL: VERSION 2.0 www.trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?id=7298 The U.S....

Three steps to safer roads in Europe and Central Asia

23 January 2024 – Road crashes happen in a moment but can leave lasting damage. This is a global problem with a high human and...

EU: fatalities in 2021 remain well below pre-pandemic level

28 March 2022 – The European Commission has published preliminary figures on road fatalities for 2021 . An estimated 19 800...

The technology and psychology that can help you become a safer driver

25 June 2017 – Story from the Guardian. More than 1 million people worldwide are killed on roads each year. Psychologists...

Road Safety Exhange

10 October 2019 – Story from the European Commission. Twelve EU Member States have teamed up to tackle challenges including...