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

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.

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