Road safety is about people. Every day, millions of EU citizens use the roads: walking, driving or riding a bicycle. Last year, almost 25700 people did not make it home; more than 200000 people came home with life-changing, serious injuries. Every fatal or serious crash on our roads is a tragedy. It is our moral obligation — our shared responsibility — to take road safety seriously. Road safety is also one of the big European success stories. In 2014, there were 5700 fewer deaths than in 2010. In the year 2000, very few Member States had a fatality rate lower than 80 deaths per million inhabitants. By 2014, only five Member States had a fatality rate above that. This is an amazing result, and it is the result of hard and dedicated road safety work throughout the European Union. This does not mean we can now sit back and relax. The work we still have ahead is challenging. How can we make the most out of modern technologies for safety? What innovative ideas are there for the safety of the most vulnerable road users? And how to continue mobilising Member States and local stakeholders for the day-to-day work on the ground? This report provides some facts and figures for a better understanding of the overall road safety situation in the European Union. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting