Tackling deaths on European roads

Market news | March 19, 2025

By Nick Flaherty

Automotive

The European Commission has just released the latest figures for deaths on its roads, showing just a slight decline.

Around 19,800 people were killed in road crashes in the EU in 2024, a slight drop of 600, or 3%, compared to 2023.

Pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists are the most vulnerable, with pedestrians, making up nearly 70% of urban fatalities, and highlighting the urgent need for improved safety measures.

However the overall pace of improvement remains too slow, and most Member States are not on track to meet the EU’s goal of halving road deaths by 2030.

Over the past five years, Greece, Spain, France, and Italy have seen only modest declines in road deaths, while Ireland and Estonia have experienced an increase. In contrast, Bulgaria, Denmark, Lithuania, Poland, and Slovenia are making strong progress toward the 50% reduction target.

The data below shows why the safety testing regime is changing from 2026.

Sweden and Denmark remain the safest countries in terms of road safety, with low fatality rates of 20 and 24 deaths per million inhabitants, comparable to the UK, which saw 1624 fatalities for 2024, down 2% on the year before and 24 per million people.

Meanwhile, Romania (77/million) and Bulgaria (74/million), which still have some of the highest fatality rates, have made significant progress in reducing road deaths, with declines of over 20% since 2019. The EU average is 44 road deaths per million inhabitants.

At the same time, the move to include more safety systems in new cars, particularly electric and software defied vehicles, has been seen as one of the drivers for increasing cost and so responsible for the slowdown in the industry.

“In 2024, it was inspiring to see car manufacturers put safety first, despite the challenges they face. Safety continues to be a driving force for industry,” said Dr. Michiel van Ratingen, Secretary General of Euro NCAP

However the latest safety figures show that there is still a considerable distance to go to reduce deaths on the roads across Europe. This is leading to changes in the testing requirements at Euro NCAP.

In 2026, Euro NCAP will be proposing a new rating scheme that clusters tests according to the four distinctive stages of an accident: safe driving, crash avoidance, crash protection, and post-crash safety.

Euro NCAP changes

In 2024, Euro NCAP’s passenger car safety rating rules did not change and ratings for 53 cars were released, with 41 representing new car models and 12 additional partner or variant models. Despite the difficult market conditions, new market entrants swiftly adjusted to the new 5-star requirements and provided excellent levels of safety.

Assisted Driving gradings for the latest highway assist systems were also released for five cars available on the market. These were tested in accordance with updated protocols that incorporate more challenging crash scenarios with power-two-wheelers and stricter driver monitoring requirements.

Euro NCAP’s influence extends beyond Europe, shaping safety standards worldwide. Among the 41 cars tested in 2024, eight were developed by leading Chinese brands, including ZEEKR, Maxus, NIO, XPENG, Deepal, and Leapmotor.

However, despite this growing competition, European manufacturers continue to hold a dominant position in the market, with key players such as Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, and Renault remaining strong contenders across multiple vehicle segments.

In the full-year 2024, new car registrations rose slightly, increasing by a modest 0.8% to around 10.6 million units. With a variety of combustion engine-powered vehicles, hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrids, and fully electric vehicles, the European market is proving to be diversified.

“While the 3% reduction in road fatalities is a step in the right direction, it is not enough. Too many lives are still lost on our roads every year. We must accelerate efforts to improve road safety, particularly for vulnerable road users and in high-risk areas like rural roads. Every death is one too many, and we remain committed to achieving our Vision Zero goal,” Apostolos Tzitzikostas, Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism.

Automotive safety systems are a key way to achieve this reduction going forward, with designs for lower cost to driver higher adoption.

transport.ec.europa.eu/; www.euroncap.com

Road deaths – preliminary data for 2024

	Rate per million population		% change 2024 in relation to:
	2023	2024	2023	2019	Average 2017-19
EU	46	44	-3%	-13%	-15%
Belgium	43	37	-13%	-32%	-29%
Bulgaria	81	74	-9%	-24%	-25%
Czechia	46	45	-2%	-20%	-20%
Denmark	27	24	-10%	-27%	-20%
Germany	34	33	-2%	-9%	-12%
Estonia	43	50	17%	33%	24%
Ireland	34	32	-4%	23%	21%
Greece	61	64	4%	-3%	-6%
Spain	38	35	-4%	-2%	-4%
France	48	48	1%	-1%	-4%
Croatia	71	62	-13%	-20%	-24%
Italy	52	51	0%	-5%	-8%
Cyprus	37	44	21%	-21%	-20%
Latvia	75	59	-22%	-16%	-20%
Lithuania	56	42	-24%	-35%	-34%
Luxembourg	39	27	-31%	-18%	-35%
Hungary	49	52	5%	-17%	-20%
Malta	30	21	-25%	-25%	-32%
Netherlands	34	31	-10%	-6%	-4%
Austria	44	38	-13%	-16%	-15%
Poland	52	52	0%	-35%	-34%
Portugal	61	56	-7%	-14%	-10%
Romania	81	77	-4%	-21%	-22%
Slovenia	39	32	-17%	-33%	-31%
Slovakia	49	47	-3%	-5%	-4%
Finland	33	31	-5%	-17%	-23%
Sweden	22	20	-8%	-5%	-21%
Switzerland	27	28	6%	34%	15%
Norway	20	16	-19%	-18%	-17%
Iceland	21	33	63%	117%	-3%