ROME – Halve the number of road deaths by 2030 (compared to 2019). It is the objective set by the EU and, at a national level, by most European countries. A goal still far from being achieved if, as put in black and white by the latest report of the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), in 2023 20,418 deaths occurred on the roads of the European Union, with a overall decline of 1% compared to 2022, well below the 6.1% annual reduction needed to reach the 2030 target. Etsc is an independent non-profit organization based in Brussels, committed to reduce the number of deaths and injuries in transport in Europe. According to the report, in the last year, of the 32 countries monitored by the Road Safety Performance Index program of the Etsc, 18 have recorded a decrease in road deaths compared to 2022. The ranking is led by c It is Malta with a reduction of 38%, followed by Luxembourg with 27%, Belgium with 11% and Hungary with 10%. In contrast, road fatalities remained stagnant in two countries and even increased in 12 countries, with Lithuania recording a significant increase of 33% and deaths in Latvia increasing by 26%.
This year’s winner of the most virtuous country award is Finland. In fact, it is this Northern European state that has received the Road Safety Performance Index (Pin), the 2024 European Transport Safety Council award assigned for extraordinary progress in road safety. Finland reduced road fatalities by a substantial 29% in the decade 2013-2023, while the average decline in the EU was only 16%. The award recognizes the country’s progress in road safety and is a testament to Finland’s long-term goals and its overall strategy to improve road safety for users.
Finland’s current road safety strategy is guided by Vision Zero, meaning by 2050 no one will ever die or be seriously injured on the roads, regardless of the means of transport used. To achieve this goal, starting from 2020, the country has implemented several important measures to improve its road safety: lower speed limits in most urban areas, construction of pedestrian and cycle paths, construction of 400 km of highways, installation of automatic speed cameras on almost 3,000 km of main roads. Furthermore, Finland also aims to improve citizens’ road skills, starting with children, so much so that many schools have included road safety education in their curriculum. But for Finns, mental health is also an element strongly linked to road safety, so much so that Finland is one of only two EU countries to include road suicides in the statistics on traffic deaths roads (the other is Estonia). The country’s statistics are therefore higher than they would be if these deaths were excluded. From this perspective, according to the Finnish government, the national mental health strategy and the suicide prevention program 2020-2030 will also contribute to improving road safety.
“In Finland they say ‘vahinko ei tule kello kaulassa’ which roughly translates as ‘accidents don’t come with a bell around their neck’. This might explain why Finns take such a comprehensive and strategic approach which tries to cover many aspects different road dangers – comments Antonio Avenoso, executive director of the European Transport Safety Council – The effort does not end when accidents occur, Finland is the only country in Europe that carries out an in-depth investigation into every single fatal collision “. Following the European elections which took place in June, the European Transport Safety Council is calling for the establishment of a European Union road safety agency, with specific powers such as managing the implementation of automated vehicles and carrying out accident investigations. “While the other main modes of transport in Europe (aviation, sea and rail) have dedicated EU agencies responsible for safety – underlines the ETSC – there is no such agency for road transport”.
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ETSC also urges the European Commission to start work on a new review of vehicle safety regulations to take into account the rapid progress of safety technologies and calls for speeding up inspection reforms periodic vehicle techniques, to ensure that these technologies are maintained throughout the life cycle of the vehicle. Commenting on the next five-year mandate of the European Parliament and the Commission, the Executive Director of the European Transport Safety Council said: “Road safety must become a priority again. One hundred thousand people have died on the roads of the European Union in the last five years and another 100,000 will die in the next five if nothing changes. The newly elected MEPs and the appointed commissioners must get to work immediately.”