Spain among the four countries with the least accidents

Spain, with 29 deaths per million inhabitants, is the fourth country in the European Union with the lowest mortality rate due to traffic accidents, only behind Sweden (18), Malta (21) and Denmark (27) and ahead, for the first time in history, of reference countries in road safety such as the Netherlands (31), Germany (33) and France (39).

Car accident

These are the provisional figures for road fatalities in 2020 published this week by the European Commission and which estimate that in the entire European Union 18,000 people died due to road traffic accidents, which represents a decrease of 17% (-4,000 deaths) compared to 2019.

According to the European Commission, the lower volume of traffic as a result of the health pandemic has had a direct, although not measurable, impact on this drop in road accidents, since some European countries, despite this reduction in mobility, increased the deaths and risky behaviours, particularly speeding, increased during lockdown periods.

According to published data, 18 of the member states registered a lower number of deaths, although the reduction has not been the same. The decreases of more than 20% occurred in Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Hungary, Malta and Slovenia. In contrast, countries such as Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg and Finland increased the number of people killed.

According to Pere Navarro, director of the General Directorate of Traffic, “it is true that in 2020 we have reduced deaths from traffic accidents, but in an atypical year in which the pandemic has conditioned everything; therefore now the challenge is to consolidate that trend”. “We have taken regulatory measures that need time to consolidate and to verify their effectiveness.”

Despite these European data, the Commission recalls that in the decade 2010-2020 the number of road deaths fell by 36%, far from the goal of 50% fewer deaths that had been set for this decade. Only Greece (54%) exceeded the target, followed by Croatia (44%), Spain (44%), Portugal (43%), Italy (42%) and Slovenia (42%). In total, nine Member States recorded falls of 40% or more.

However, with a rate of 42 road deaths per million inhabitants, the EU continues to be the continent with the highest levels of road safety. The world average is over 180.

Post-Covid mobility

The European Commission also points out how the pandemic has caused many cities to grant more space to cyclists and pedestrians, a measure that can have a positive impact on air quality and that leads local authorities to rethink spaces in cities.

Across the EU, around 70% of fatalities in urban areas are vulnerable road users, i.e. pedestrians, motorcyclists and cyclists. Therefore, addressing road safety in cities is a key area of ​​focus and the Commission wants to ensure that road safety is taken into account at all stages of urban mobility planning.

For this reason, road safety will be an important element of the new Urban Mobility Initiative that the Commission will present later this year. In this regard, two European capitals, Helsinki and Oslo, achieved the milestone of zero pedestrian and cyclist deaths in 2019, citing speed reductions as essential for progress.