Statistics – accidents data

The Commission has adopted an ambitious Road Safety Programme which aims to cut road deaths in Europe between 2011 and 2020. The programme sets out a mix of initiatives, at European and national level, focussing on improving vehicle safety, the safety of infrastructure and road users' behaviour.

Key figures:

• Road Safety is a major societal issue. In 2011, more than 30,000 people died on the roads of the European Union, i.e. the equivalent of a medium town.
• For every death on Europe's roads there are an estimated 4 permanently disabling injuries such as damage to the brain or spinal cord, 8 serious injuries and 50 minor injuries.

 

Road fatalities in the EU since 2001

 

Click here for figures [187 KB]

Road Safety evolution in the EU

Road Safety evolution in the EU [283 KB]
Road Safety evolution in the EU by population [137 KB]

CARE is a Community database on road accidents resulting in death or injury (no statistics on damage - only accidents). The major difference between CARE and most other existing international databases is the high level of disaggregation, i.e. CARE comprises detailed data on individual accidents as collected by the Member States. This structure allows for maximum flexibility and potential with regard to analysing the information contained in the system and opens up a whole set of new possibilities in the field of accident analysis.

The purpose of CARE system is to provide a powerful tool which would make it possible to identify and quantify road safety problems throughout the European roads, evaluate the efficiency of road safety measures, determine the relevance of Community actions and facilitate the exchange of experience in this field.

The Council decided on 30 November 1993 the creation of a Community database on road accidents ( Council Decision 93/704/EC , Oj No L329 of 30.12.1993, pp. 63-65).

This database at Community level (CARE - Community database on Accidents on the Roads in Europe) would make it possible to identify and quantify road safety problems, evaluate the efficiency of road safety measures, determine the relevance of Community actions and facilitate the exchange of experience in this field.

National data sets should be integrated into the CARE database in their original national structure and definitions, with confidential data blanked out. The Commission provides a framework of transformation rules allowing CARE to provide compatible data.

A glossary [750 KB] defines the country variables and transformation rules.