Currently, no target has been set for the Netherlands (yet). However, the minister does aim for 0 road casualties in 2050 [6].
The United Nations and the European Union did set targets for the maximum number of road deaths in the near future. Both organisations extended the earlier 50% reduction target dating from 2010, which set the goal of halving the number of road deaths by 2030 compared to the previous 10 years (2019 [i] for the EU [7]; 2021 for the UN [8]). Applying these targets to the Netherlands would mean a maximum number of around 300-350 road deaths in 2030 [ii]. In mid-2021, a motion by Member of Parliament Geurts was passed to adopt the international target in the Netherlands and aim for a 50% reduction of the number of road casualties by 2030 [9]. An exploratory study [10] concludes that this reduction, even with additional measures, is out of reach. The number of road casualties, especially serious road injuries, is instead expected to rise sharply by 2030 [10].
[i] In early 2022, the EC decided to take 2019 as the base year instead of 2020; this is because of the effect of COVID-19 measures on road deaths in several countries.
[ii] Note: The European Union uses the police-reported figures provided by the EU countries themselves. The Dutch government uses the Road Death Statistics from Statistics Netherlands (real numbers).
