The number of road fatalities was much lower last year than in 2019. However, the number of cyclists crashed was a historically high number. The changed traffic supply due to the corona crisis plays a role in this.
Last year 610 people in the Netherlands were killed in a traffic accident. That was 51 fewer than in 2019. However, many cyclists have died historically. Last year, 229 cyclists were killed in traffic. That is 26 more than in 2019. One third of the cyclists who died were on an e-bike. This is the largest number in 25 years, according to figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
In 2020, 195 passenger car occupants were killed, 42 fewer than in 2019. The number of deaths of motorcyclists (44), pedestrians (41), moped and light-moped riders (33), mobility scooter drivers (34) and occupants of a delivery van or truck (23) was lower than a year ago. The number of road deaths fell fastest among people in their twenties, thirties and eighties. The number of road fatalities decreased by almost 20 percent among women, while the decrease was less marked (-2.6 percent) among men. Most of the 610 road casualties were male. Last year, 453 men were killed in an accident, compared to 157 women.
Effect of crisis
What is striking about the figures is that relatively more people died in an accident during the lockdown. On the days with the least traffic, in March and April 2020, the number of road deaths was higher than in the same period in 2019. Also in the weeks from 5 June to 12 July and the weeks from 2 November to 29 November was the number of road deaths was higher than a year earlier, while the traffic intensity was much lower.
Last week, a study already showed that the corona crisis does not lead to much fewer victims. Vulnerable road users would be more likely to be endangered. Especially during the lockdowns, there was little motorized traffic, which on average drove faster. In combination with a relatively high supply of walkers and cyclists, this ensured that these vulnerable groups in particular became involved in an accident more quickly.