On 4 April the European Commission published the Statistical Report on Road Safety in the EU for the year 2018.
The report shows that there were around 25,100 fatalities in road accidents in 2018. This is a decrease of 21% compared to 2010 and only 1% compared to 2017. This means that the EU is unlikely to meet its target of halving the number of road deaths by 2020. Nevertheless, European roads are the safest in the world, with an average of 49 fatalities per million inhabitants.
The fewest road deaths were in the UK with 28 deaths per million inhabitants in 2018, followed by Denmark (30) and Ireland (31). Germany ranked 8th with 39 deaths per million inhabitants and Slovakia 12th with 46 deaths. Romania came last with 96 deaths per million inhabitants.
The data analysed in the Road Safety Report 2018 showed disproportionately high deaths among unprotected road users, i.e. pedestrians, elderly people, motorcyclists and cyclists. The Commission noted that these groups should be given "special attention" in road safety legislation when the population switches to active and sustainable means of transport.
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