The European map of road accidents. Which country has most deaths in traffic

The number of people that lost their lives in road accidents decreased last year in the European Union. The most important progress in this regard was registered in Lithuania. At the opposite end, Romania remains the EU country with the highest rate of deaths caused by road accidents per million inhabitants.

25,670 people died in 2016 as a result of road accidents in Europe, being 2% less than the previous year, according to the „Road Safety Performance Index” report made by European Transport Safety Council (ETSC).

15 of the 32 countries monitored by the ETCS (28 EU countries, Israel, Norway, Serbia and Switzerland) registered last year a significant drop in the total number of road deaths. The most significant improvement was registered in Lithuania (22%), followed by Cyprus (19%), Czech Republic (17%), Latvia (16%) and Switzerland (15%).

Furthermore, compared to 2010, Lithuania registered in 2016 a 37% decrease in the number of road deaths.

At the same time, 15 countries experienced increases, with the highest being in Malta: 100%. The following positions were occupied by Denmark (19%), Ireland (16%) and Norway (15%). In two countries, the level remained the same.

On the other hand, between 2010 and 2016, the number of road deaths reduced by 19% within the EU. The target for 2020 is of 34%, according to the cited report. Therefore, only three EU member countries managed to already fulfill this target: Portugal, Lithuania and Greece. At the same time, Norway and Switzerland, non-EU countries, managed to reduce the number of road deaths by 36% each.

Great Britain and The Netherlands registered the slowest progress from 2010 until present. Moreover, Malta and Sweden registered in 2016 more road deaths than in 2010.

Throughout all the EU countries, there were 5,900 less road deaths in 2016 than in 2010. From 2001, a year in which EU announced as its target reducing the number of road deaths and until 2016, Lithuania managed to reduce the number by 73%. The country was followed by Latvia, Spain and Portugal, with percentages that are 66% lower.

At the opposite end were Romania, Bulgaria, Israel, The Netherlands and Finland.

Regarding the mortality rate, the EU had an average last year of 51 deaths per 1 million inhabitants, compared to 63 per 1 million inhabitants in 2010.

Within this category, the front-runners were Norway and Switzerland, with 26 road deaths per 1 million inhabitants, followed by Sweden and Great Britain, with under 30 deaths per 1 million inhabitants.

In Denmark, The Netherlands, Spain, Israel, Germany and Ireland, the percentages were between 37 and 40 road deaths per 1 million residents. By contrast, the worst in this regard were Bulgaria and Romania, with 98 and 97 deaths per 1 million inhabitants respectively.

The „Road Safety Performance Index” report also takes into consideration the number of death per kilometer in 22 countries for which there is data in this regard. Therefore, Norway, Sweden, Great Britain, Switzerland and Denmark have the highest risks in this aspect, while Poland, Latvia and Croatia are at the bottom of the ranking.