Road safety in Europe#EU law

File:Road traffic deaths in europe 2000-2022.svg

The European Union (EU) has the safest roads in the world; in which 49 people per million inhabitants died in a road collision in 2018.{{cite web|url=http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-19-1951_en.htm|title=European Commission – PRESS RELEASES – Press release – Road safety: Data show improvements in 2018 but further concrete and swift actions are needed|website=europa.eu|access-date=2019-06-26|archive-date=27 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190627025806/http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-19-1951_en.htm|url-status=live}} In the year 2000 over 50,000 people in Europe lost their lives on the roads, by 2009 this number had been reduced to over 35,000; and by 2018 the figure has been reduced further to 25,100, whilst in the same year the number of serious injuries incurred as a result of road collisions was 135,000 people.{{cite web|url=https://etsc.eu/briefing-eu-mobility-package-iii-including-new-vehicle-safety-standards/|title=Briefing: EU Mobility Package III including new vehicle safety standards {{!}} ETSC|website=etsc.eu|access-date=2019-06-26|archive-date=26 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626131101/https://etsc.eu/briefing-eu-mobility-package-iii-including-new-vehicle-safety-standards/|url-status=live}}

The European Commission (EC) has laid out a plan entitled Vision Zero which endeavours to reduce the incidence of road induced fatalities to a rate of zero by the year 2050.{{cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/transport/modes/road/news/2018-05-17-europe-on-the-move-3_en|title=Europe on the Move: Commission completes its agenda for safe, clean and connected mobility|last=BORMANS|first=Yves|date=2018-05-16|website=Mobility and Transport – European Commission|language=en|access-date=2019-06-26|archive-date=25 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190625144224/https://ec.europa.eu/transport/modes/road/news/2018-05-17-europe-on-the-move-3_en|url-status=live}} In order to be able to achieve their long-term ambition of zero deaths on Europe's roads, the Commission implemented a road safety strategy, The Road Safety Programme, in which they aimed to halve the number of fatalities caused by road accidents and incidents between 2011 and 2020. As of 2018, European Union member states are far from this target, since there has only been a 20% reduction in road fatalities, which makes the target of a 50% reduction by 2020 now seem implausible.{{cite web|url=https://etsc.eu/500-people-a-week-still-dying-on-eu-roads/|title=500 people a week still dying on EU roads {{!}} ETSC|website=etsc.eu|access-date=2019-06-26|archive-date=26 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626131101/https://etsc.eu/500-people-a-week-still-dying-on-eu-roads/|url-status=live}}

In 2021, the European Investment Bank signed an agreement with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe to strengthen collaboration in the fields of road safety and climate resilient transport infrastructure.{{Cite web |title=Serbia roads get safety boost, sustainability financing |url=https://www.eib.org/en/stories/serbia-roads-safety-western-balkans-links |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=European Investment Bank |language=en}}

The Commissioner of Transport of the EU considers road safety as a key European success story.{{Cite web |url=https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/road_safety/pdf/vademecum_2015.pdf |title=Mobility and transport |access-date=11 July 2017 |archive-date=23 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623232619/https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/road_safety/pdf/vademecum_2015.pdf |url-status=live }}

The World Health Organization issued a European Status Report on road safety.{{Cite web |url=http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/43314/E92789.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=11 July 2017 |archive-date=27 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127214718/http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/43314/E92789.pdf |url-status=live }}

Ninety per cent of WHO countries have a safety agency operating with their respective transport ministries, except in CIS countries where the topic falls under the interior minister.

Road safety policy making in the EU falls jointly on the European institutions and member states; and it is the European Commission (EC) which has a particularly important role in overseeing road safety policy across the Union. This is because it has oversight over product standards and regulations, as well as certain aspects of infrastructure development and management. Road safety is based upon the EU principle of subsidiarity: national and local authorities are responsible for most decisions, including enforcement and awareness-raising, while the EU operates a general framework for improved road safety via legislation and recommendations e.g. introducing minimum safety requirements for the Trans-European Transport Networks, and technical requirements for the transport of dangerous goods.{{cite web|url=http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-17-675_en.htm|title=European Commission – PRESS RELEASES – Press release – 2016 road safety statistics: What is behind the figures?|website=europa.eu|access-date=11 July 2017|archive-date=3 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703140051/http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-17-675_en.htm|url-status=live}}

The EU publishes various legal texts regarding road safety.{{cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/specialist/policy_en|title=EU Road safety policy – Mobility and transport – European Commission|website=Mobility and transport|date=17 October 2016|access-date=11 July 2017|archive-date=12 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170812140144/https://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/specialist/policy_en|url-status=live}}

The European Transport Safety Council is an NGO based in Brussels. It aims to reduce the numbers of deaths and injuries in transport in Europe.[https://etsc.eu/ European Safety Council] The Council reported an increase in fatalities in most European countries in 2015.Department for Transport, [https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/533293/rrcgb-main-results-2015.pdf Reported road casualties in Great Britain: Main Results, 2015] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909142448/https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/533293/rrcgb-main-results-2015.pdf |date=9 September 2017 }}, published 30 June 2016

{{unreferenced section|date=August 2023}}

File:General Patton's grave 300806.jpg's grave in Luxembourg City: On December 8, 1945, while still in Europe, while upon going to an invitation of Patton's chief of staff, Major General Hobart Gay, his car collided with an American army truck at low speed.{{citation |first=Alan |last=Axelrod |author-link=Alan Axelrod |year=2006 |title=Patton: A Biography |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=London |isbn=978-1-4039-7139-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/patton00axel|page=167}}]]

The 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic defines a fatal road accident as an accident in which a person dies of their injuries at the scene or within thirty days. This definition has been adopted across most EU countries.

Some countries have applied this definition retrospectively where possible. For instance, until 2004 France counted its killed at six days, but in an effort to enable comparison with neighboring countries a multiplicative coefficient {{formatnum:1.057}} was used up to 2004 and {{formatnum:1.069}} since 2005 to convert the killed at six days into killed at thirty days, before France adopted the international definition in 2005.

Each year road crashes generate about 120,000 fatalities and 2.4 million injuries in the European region of the World Health Organization. Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death among adolescents and young adults.

In 2015, the European Commission published a figure for the number of people seriously injured on Europe's roads: 135,000 people in 2014. To obtain this figure all countries of the EU needed to align on a common standardized medical definition of what constitutes a serious road injury.{{cite web|url=http://etsc.eu/commission-publishes-first-official-serious-injury-figures-as-275-meps-back-eu-target/|title=Commission publishes first official serious injury figures as 275 MEPs back EU target – ETSC|last=SemiColonWeb|website=etsc.eu|access-date=11 July 2017|archive-date=2 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702001218/http://etsc.eu/commission-publishes-first-official-serious-injury-figures-as-275-meps-back-eu-target/|url-status=live}}

In Europe, for every person killed in traffic crashes, many more{{Quantify|date=May 2023}}See table to compare number of serious injuries to number of deaths, for instance, Italy has 17 000 M·AIS3 injuries for nearly 3000 deaths suffer serious injuries with life-changing consequences.

Serious injuries are more costly to society because of the long-term rehabilitation and healthcare needed. Vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists or elderly road users, are especially concerned.

Between 2010 and 2018, between 206 and 222 thousands serious injured were counted yearly for 23 EU members{{Cite web |url=https://etsc.eu/wp-content/uploads/AR_2019-Final.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=14 February 2020 |archive-date=15 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215080823/https://etsc.eu/wp-content/uploads/AR_2019-Final.pdf |url-status=live }}

The level of transport-related air pollution is also a major public health concern in most countries of Europe.

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|text=Fatality rates in 2017 (in fatality per population) source Europa.eu*https://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/sites/roadsafety/files/pdf/statistics/dacota/bfs2017_main_figures.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917215454/https://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/sites/roadsafety/files/pdf/statistics/dacota/bfs2017_main_figures.pdf |date=17 September 2018 }}

• https://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/sites/roadsafety/files/pdf/statistics/dacota/bfs2017_main_figures.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917215454/https://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/sites/roadsafety/files/pdf/statistics/dacota/bfs2017_main_figures.pdf |date=17 September 2018 }}

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Many differences between countries are linked to demography, development level and population density. According to Siem Oppe of the SWOW a learning behavior appears in the changes in the level of fatalities over time:

• In the poorest countries, there are few trips and less public transport. Motorized road traffic is low and the rate of fatalities by million inhabitants is very low (fewer than 30).
• Development of car use leads to a sharp increase in traffic and consequently increases accident numbers, and the ratio killed per million inhabitants in less poor countries passes 200.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}}
• On the other hand, the richest countries experience a lot of congestion and have more developed transport and road safety policies. Drivers' behaviour is more cautious, and the ratio killed falls to less than 80 killed per million inhabitants.

†^a Data only available for 2017

†^b Data not available for "Other Roads" Category in source

†^c Data not available for "Other Roads" Category in source

†^d Data only available for 2016

†^e Data for MAIS3+ certification

Nationals means do not show local variations, so in 2015, NUTS regions with the lower fatality ratio per million inhabitants, are Stockholm (6), Vienna (7), Hamburg and Oslo (11), Berlin (14) and East Sweden (15).Eurostat The same year, other regions have a worst fatality ratio such as the Luxembourg province of Belgium (210) and Kastamonu in Turkey (192).

UK position

Mortality in UK is rather reduced compared with the EU.

Les moyennes nationales ne reflètent pas les variations locales, ainsi en 2015, les régions NUTS ayant la mortalité routière la plus faible, par million d'habitants, sont Stokholm (6), Viennes (7), Hambourg et Oslo (11), Berlin (14) et Ostra Verige (15). La même année, les régions les plus meurtrières sont la province de Luxembourg en Belgique (210) et Kastamonu en Turquie (192).

The "per 10 billion pkm" indicator is based on an estimated value due to missing vkm indicator.

In 2016, the indicator range from 23 for Sweden to 192 for Romania, with a 52 value for 28-EU. Germany, France, UK and Italy ranks 33, 46, 28, and 44, respectively.{{Cite web |url=https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/pb2018-section27.xls |title=Archived copy |access-date=30 November 2019 |archive-date=4 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604075104/https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/pb2018-section27.xls |url-status=live }}

{{further|transportation mode}}

Car drivers and their passengers formed the greatest proportion of road fatalities in 2013 at 45%, followed by pedestrians at 22%. These vary considerably between nations with high levels of fatalities for motorcycles where their use is more common, linked to the climate of Mediterranean countries.{{cite web|title=Road accident fatalities – statistics by type of vehicle|url=http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Road_accident_fatalities_-_statistics_by_type_of_vehicle|publisher=eurostat|accessdate=19 September 2017|archive-date=19 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170919234117/http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Road_accident_fatalities_-_statistics_by_type_of_vehicle|url-status=live}}

{{Pie chart

| caption=Road accident fatalities by category of vehicles as of 2013{{cite web|title=Road accident fatalities by category of vehicles, EU-28, 2013|url=http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/File:Road_accident_fatalities_by_category_of_vehicles,_EU-28,_2013-Fig2.png|publisher=eurostat|accessdate=19 September 2017|archive-date=20 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920043841/http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/File:Road_accident_fatalities_by_category_of_vehicles,_EU-28,_2013-Fig2.png|url-status=live}}

| other = yes

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| value1 = 44.7 |

| label2 = Light goods vehicles

| value2 = 3.1 |

| label3 = HGV

| value3 = 1.7 |

| label4 = Buses & coaches

| value4 = 0.6 |

| label5 = Bicycles

| value5 = 7.8 |

| label6 = Mopeds

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In the world and within the European Union (28 members), mortality depends upon modal transportation:

Since 1999 the EuroRAP initiative has been assessing major roads in Europe with a road protection score. This results in a star rating for roads based on how well its design would protect car occupants from being severely injured or killed if a head-on, run-off, or intersection accident occurs, with four stars representing a road with the best survivability features.{{cite web |date=3 December 2007 |title=Star rating roads for safety: UK trials 2006–07 |url=http://www.eurorap.org/news_item?search=y&ID=39 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214090335/http://www.eurorap.org/news_item?search=y&ID=39 |archive-date=14 December 2007 |publisher=EuroRAP}} (Note: see country maps here [http://www.eurorap.org/risk_maps?search=y&protocol=risk&country=*&parent=*] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080924011634/http://www.eurorap.org/risk_maps?search=y&protocol=risk&country=%2A&parent=%2A|date=24 September 2008}}) The scheme states it has highlighted thousands of road sections across Europe where road users are routinely maimed and killed for want of safety features, sometimes for little more than the cost of safety fencing or the paint required to improve road markings.{{cite web | url = http://www.eurorap.org/about | title = Chairman's Message | last = John Dawson | first = John | access-date = 11 July 2017 | archive-date = 29 July 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120729195809/http://www.eurorap.org/about | url-status = dead }}

There are plans to extend the measurements to rate the probability of an accident for the road. These ratings are being used to inform planning and authorities' targets. For example, in Britain two thirds of all road deaths in Britain happen on rural roads, which score badly when compared with the high-quality motorway network; single carriageways claim 80% of rural deaths and serious injuries, while 40% of rural car occupant casualties are in cars that hit roadside objects, such as trees. Improvements in driver training and safety features for rural roads are hoped to reduce this statistic.{{cite web| url = http://www.eurorap.org/library/pdfs/20071130_UK_RPS_report.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080227050304/http://www.eurorap.org/library/pdfs/20071130_UK_RPS_report.pdf | url-status = dead| archive-date = 2008-02-27 |title = Star rating roads for safety, UK trials 2006–07 | publisher = TRL, EuroRAP & ADAC |date=December 2007}}

The number of designated traffic officers in the UK fell from 15 to 20% of police force strength in 1966 to seven per cent of force strength in 1998, and between 1999 and 2004 by 21%.{{cite web |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmtran/975/975.pdf |title=Section 21, traffic officer numbers reduction in the UK |date= |accessdate=9 April 2012 |archive-date=5 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305172038/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmtran/975/975.pdf |url-status=live }} It is an item of debate whether the reduction in traffic accidents per 100 million miles driven over this time{{cite web|url=http://www.dft.gov.uk/adobepdf/162469/221412/217792/4212241/transportstatisticgreatbrit.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429083452/http://www.dft.gov.uk/adobepdf/162469/221412/217792/4212241/transportstatisticgreatbrit.pdf |url-status=dead|archive-date=29 April 2011 |title=page 147 Transport statistics 2009 edition |publisher=Dft.gov.uk |date=31 March 2012 |accessdate=9 April 2012}} has been due to robotic enforcement.

EU Directive 2008/96/EC on Road Infrastructure Safety Management (RISM), adopted on 19 November 2008, provides for the introduction of road safety impact assessments (RSIA) in the process of designing a new road or major road layout change.Transport Infrastructure Ireland, [https://www.tiipublications.ie/library/PE-PMG-02001-04.pdf Road Safety Impact Assessment] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019094248/https://www.tiipublications.ie/library/PE-PMG-02001-04.pdf |date=19 October 2020 }}, published December 2017, accessed 19 October 2020 As defined by the directive, a RSIA is "a strategic comparative analysis of the impact of a new road or a substantial modification to the existing network on the safety performance of the road network".McCarthy, E., [https://www.tii.ie/tii-library/conferences_and_seminars/TII_road_safety_audit_seminar/2016/04-E-McCarthy-RSIA-v-RSA.pdf Road Safety Impact Assessment v Road Safety Audit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023114418/https://www.tii.ie/tii-library/conferences_and_seminars/TII_road_safety_audit_seminar/2016/04-E-McCarthy-RSIA-v-RSA.pdf |date=23 October 2020 }}, TII Road Safety Audit Seminar, 2016, accessed 19 October 2020 Transposition into member state law was mandated by 19 December 2010:Directive 2008/96/EC on Road Infrastructure Safety Management, Article 14 it was transposed into Irish law under SI 472 of 2011.

Road safety within tunnels on the Trans-European road network is specifically managed separately, within the 2004 directive on minimum safety requirements for such tunnels.Directive 2004/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on minimum safety requirements for tunnels in the Trans-European Road Network (OJ L 167, 30.4.2004, p. 39)

In 2018 the European Commission presented a proposal to amend the EU RISM directive with a view to reducing road fatalities and serious injuries on EU road networks, by improving the safety performance of road infrastructure.European Parliament, [https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-8-2019-0008_EN.html Report on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2008/96/EC on road infrastructure safety management, COM(2018)0274], accessed 24 August 2023 The amendment was adopted in November 2019.European Cyclists' Federation, [https://ecf.com/sites/ecf.com/files/key_changes_in_the_rism_directive_20191206.pdf Key Changes in the Directive on Road Infrastructure Safety Management] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022215650/https://ecf.com/sites/ecf.com/files/key_changes_in_the_rism_directive_20191206.pdf |date=22 October 2020 }}, published 6 December 2019, accessed 21 October 2020

The European Union has other legal texts regarding Driving License, Enforcement in the field of road safety, Alcohol, Drugs and Medicine, Professional Drivers – Training, Professional Drivers – Working Conditions, Professional Drivers – Tachographs, Professional Drivers – Check of the working Conditions, Third Countries Driver Attestation, Vehicles – type approval, Vehicle – Registration, Vehicle – Technical Control, Vehicle – Front Protection of Vulnerable Users, Vehicle – Safety Belts and other Restraints Systems of Vulnerable Users, Vehicle – Tyres, Vehicle – Daytime Running Lights, Vehicle – Blind Spot Mirrors, Vehicle – Conspicuity, Vehicle – Speed limitation Devices, Vehicle – Weights and Dimensions, Transport of Dangerous Goods – Weights and Dimensions, Road Infrastructure, Emergency Calls, Accident Data Collection, and Unit of Measurement:{{clarify|date=July 2018}} see also Directive 80/1269/EEC, European driving license, European emission standards, and End of Life Vehicles Directive.

European countries usually have improvable{{clarify|date=July 2018}} laws regarding speed control, drunk driving, helmets, seat belts and child car restraints. Most countries have laws regarding one or another concern, but less than a third of countries have laws and control for each of them.

Source: https://etsc.eu/blood-alcohol-content-bac-drink-driving-limits-across-europe

In 2018, Ireland wins the PIN award 2019, is the best performer of the European Union for traffic safety, with 30 deaths per million inhabitants. not counting the withdrawing United Kingdom.

It is also the second member of the EU for deaths per billion vehicle-km, with a rate of 3.5, not as good as the rate 3.4 for Sweden, not counting the withdrawing United Kingdom.

Ireland actions to improve safety included fighting against drunk driving, drunk pedestrian, drunk motorcyclist, and speeding motorcyclists.

In the European Union differences exist from country to country.

For instance, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands only have {{#expr:(586+3046+1755)}} fatalities in 2019, that is {{#expr:100*(586+3046+1755)/22700 round 0}} % of EU fatalities for {{#expr:100*(82521653+46528966 +17081507) /445834883 round 0}}% of the population in 2017. This means this group of three populated countries performs better than the whole EU.

At the opposite, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania have 5401 fatalities in 2019, that is {{#expr:100*5401/22700 round 0}} % of EU fatalities also, but for only {{#expr:100*(19644350 +37972964+7101859) /445834883 round 0}}% of the population in 2017.

While those six countries together make 48% of EU population and 48% of EU fatalities, rate of fatalities per population is

{{#expr:100*(24/15)/(24/33)-100 round 0}} % higher in the second group of three countries than in the better group.

Between both groups, France and Italy together have {{#expr:(3244+3173)}} fatalities the same year, that is {{#expr:100*(3244+3173)/22700 round 0}} % of EU fatalities for {{#expr:100*(66989083+60589445)/445834883 round 0}}% of the population in 2017. This makes rate of fatalities per population in this third group is

{{#expr:100*(28/29)/(24/33)-100 round 0}} % higher in this third group of countries than in the better group.

Those eight countries together make 77% of EU population and 76% of EU fatalities. The last quarter would group the 19 other EU countries which also have good and poor performers but with a smaller weight in the EU performance.

Road fatalities in the Western Balkans claimed nearly 1 300 lives in 2022, according to a speech made at the 7th UN Global Road Safety Week in June 2023.{{Cite web |title=7th UN Global Road Safety Week |url=https://www.who.int/campaigns/un-global-road-safety-week/2023 |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=www.who.int |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=7th UN Global Road Safety Week 2023 - PAHO/WHO {{!}} Pan American Health Organization |url=https://www.paho.org/en/campaigns/7th-global-road-safety-week-2023 |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=www.paho.org |language=en}} In Serbia alone, 553 persons died in road accidents in 2022, with a total of 30 000 lives lost in the previous 30 years. Serbia has had significant progress in road safety, with a 27% drop in fatalities between 2011 and 2021, but the country does continue to have a greater proportion of road traffic deaths per 100,000 people than the EU average.{{Cite web |title=Road safety in the EU: fatalities below pre-pandemic levels but progress remains too slow |url=https://transport.ec.europa.eu/news-events/news/road-safety-eu-fatalities-below-pre-pandemic-levels-progress-remains-too-slow-2023-02-21_en |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=transport.ec.europa.eu |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Serbia |url=https://www.roadsafetyfacility.org/country/serbia |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=www.roadsafetyfacility.org |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Youth Road Safety Behavior in Serbia |url=https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/33096 |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=encyclopedia.pub |language=en}} The EU average is 5.1.{{Cite web |title=Press corner |url=https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/home/en |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=European Commission - European Commission |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=2021 road safety statistics: what is behind the figures? |url=https://transport.ec.europa.eu/background/2021-road-safety-statistics-what-behind-figures_en |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=transport.ec.europa.eu |language=en}}

Compared mortality in UK NUTS 1 regions.

Image:Lisbon50.jpg, Portugal]]

In Europe, expenditure for traffic safety is far less than the costs of road traffic injuries.{{Quantify|date=May 2023}}

Project EDWARD is the biggest Europe-wide awareness and enforcement campaign on road safety.{{cite web|url = https://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/project-edward-or-european-day-without-road-death_en|title = Project EDWARD or the European Day Without a Road Death|date = 25 September 2019|access-date = 29 September 2019|archive-date = 29 September 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190929220934/https://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/project-edward-or-european-day-without-road-death_en|url-status = live}}

The goal of the project European Day Without A Road Death (Project EDWARD) is that nobody dies on the roads of Europe on Wednesday 19 September 2018.{{Cite web |url=https://roadsafetydays.eu/ |title=Project EDWARD | European Day Without a Road Death |access-date=7 September 2018 |archive-date=8 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908015739/https://roadsafetydays.eu/ |url-status=live }} In 2018, project EDWARD reached a score of 37.2 million on the Twitter social media.

The fourth edition occurred on 26 September 2019.

That day, 52 people were killed on the European roads, a few less than the daily 70 killed per day. In eleven EU countries, nobody was killed that day.{{cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/move/item-detail.cfm?item_id=663006&newsletter_id=825|title=MOVE – Item|access-date=10 December 2019|archive-date=20 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220162133/https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/move/items/663006|url-status=live}}

The keyword used on social media for this campaign is the word #ProjectEDWARD.

Next EDWARD day is planned on 16 September 2020.

On 17 September 2020 was set the roadpol safety day. That day, 34 people dies on the European roads of 26 participating countries out of 27. 16 countries had zero deaths that day, while 10 countries had had at least one death. Spain, Poland and Romania had more than 5.{{cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/2020-09-24-results-first-roadpol-safety-days_en|title=European Commission welcomes results of first edition of ROADPOL Safety Days|date=24 September 2020|access-date=27 September 2020|archive-date=6 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201006004948/https://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/2020-09-24-results-first-roadpol-safety-days_en|url-status=live}}

• European Campaign for Safe Road Design
• List of countries by traffic-related death rate
• Transportation safety in the United States

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Category:Road transport in Europe

Category:Infrastructure in Europe

Category:Road safety

Category:Public policy in Europe