On the 11th of June 2020, The European Commission published preliminary road safety figures for 2019. Although there is some progress, it is too slow and the EU couldn’t meet the target of halving the number of road deaths by 2020. In 2019, there are 22 800 road traffic fatalities registered in the EU, a 23% decrease compared to 2010. Due to the measures to tackle coronavirus, the number of road fatalities is likely to drop significantly but not enough to meet the target.

For 2018, 70% of total fatalities in urban areas happen with vulnerable road users, with 12% of them being cyclists. “Looking at urban areas only, the number of cyclists killed actually increased by 1% between 2010 and 2018.” In the context of coronavirus resulting in an ever growing number of people using bicycles, rapid work is needed, EuroRAP concludes.

To see more insights and explanations of the figures by the European Commission, click here.