Number of traffic fatalities increased by 155 to 737 in 2022

With 737 road deaths in 2022, as announced by Statistics Netherlands on April 18, the Netherlands will be back at the pre-2009 level. Compared to 2021, the number of road deaths has increased by 155. Almost forty percent of the road deaths in 2022 were cyclists (291) and more than 30 percent were car occupants (225). Most road deaths are among the elderly: in 2022, 399 (54%) road deaths were 60 years or older. Children (0-14 years) are relatively rare in traffic; in 2022 there were 23 (3%).

'Road safety thrown back in time 15 years'

SWOV director Martin Damen: 'Considered over the past ten years, the road safety figures do not (any longer) show a downward trend. But with this sharp increase in the number of road deaths, road safety has actually been thrown back in time by 14 to 15 years.”