Serious injuries to the 24 EU Member States decreased by 13% between 2013 and 2023, a rate that is lower than a 16% reduction in road deaths.
About 1,291,000 people are injured annually by road conflicts in the European Union, with 141,000 of these injuries serious. This states a report by the European Transport Security Council, which emphasizes that progress in reducing serious and slight injuries is lagging behind in reducing rolling stock deaths.
Serious injuries to the 24 EU Member States decreased by 13% between 2013 and 2023, a rate that is lower than a 16% reduction in road deaths. At the same time, the report points out that the magnitude of the reduction in the period 2013-2023 is far from the goal of reaching a 50% reduction in the 2020-2030. All this when the European Union has aimed to reduce serious injuries by 50% between 2020 and 2030.
In fact, this number is higher due to the non -utilization of data collection. According to a new report by the European Transport Security Council, most European governments fail to significantly improve road safety, partly due to the incomplete picture of the number of injured on the roads and the lack of data on where and when the road events occurred.
Most official statistics are collected from police reports, while pedestrian and cyclists are rarely reported. Although hospitals collect their own data, today there is no complete picture of injuries.
In the Czech Republic, according to the police database and the public health system, only 43% of the injuries are recorded. A study in the Netherlands found that there was a police record for 65% of those who were seriously injured in a car involved. “Every day, throughout Europe, hundreds of people are seriously injured in our streets. Policy formulators underestimate both the scale of the problem and the impact these injuries may have. National governments need to work harder to improve the recording of the injured. So there is a misleading picture of injuries from traffic accidents, “says project director at the European Transport Security Council, Jenny Carson.
Finally, the report states that leaders should take responsibility, ensure transparency, guarantee funding and improve data collection, and develop partnerships. They also have to manage vehicles at levels suitable for the road environment and vulnerable road users, design and maintain infrastructure, promote vehicle safety technologies that prevent collisions and protect passengers and vulnerable users of the road,
Source: KYPE