The coronavirus has actually only caused a lot of misery so far, but there is also a small bright spot: in Europe there were 3,900 fewer road deaths last year than in 2019. According to the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), the decrease is most likely due to recent travel restrictions.
In 2020, 18,844 people died in European traffic, a record decrease of 17 percent compared to the death rate in 2019. This decrease can be placed in the context of the corona measures. After all, it was noticeably quieter on the road. Incidentally, the ESTC is not reassured that the decline will continue. According to Antonio Avenoso, director of the EU body, when it comes to road safety, governments should show ‘the same focus as when dealing with the corona virus’. According to him, there is a risk that the number of road deaths will increase again now that the countries are slowly but surely closing again.
However, the EU’s original target of halving the number of road deaths by 2020 compared to 2010 has not been achieved. In ten years, the number of road deaths in Europe fell by 37 percent. In absolute figures, that is 10,847 fewer deaths. The Netherlands is lagging behind in this regard, because the number of road deaths here fell by only 5 percent in ten years. Earlier, the ETSC also spoke negatively about road safety in the Netherlands. Despite the fact that the intended reduction has not been achieved at European level, 56,305 lives are expected to have been saved in the last ten years. Greece is also the only EU member state that has achieved the target of 50 percent: the number of road deaths there was 54 percent lower.