European roads: which ones are the most dangerous?

Vacationing by car? Lovely idea. But besides the route planner and the cooler, there is something else to keep in mind: the safety of the roads in the country you are driving to. An analysis by Independer, based on the latest Eurostat figures, shows that there are considerable differences within the European Union. And those differences are really big.

Bulgaria and Romania take the crown

Bulgaria and Romania have an average of 81 traffic fatalities per million inhabitants annually. That is almost double the EU average of 46. Latvia is also high on the list with 75 victims. Croatia and Greece complete the top five, with 71 and 61 traffic deaths per million inhabitants, respectively. Not figures to be cheerful about.

How is the Netherlands doing?

Fortunately, the Netherlands scores much better. Here the number of fatal accidents is 34 per million inhabitants. This puts us in the safe regions, along with countries such as Finland, Denmark and Malta. The absolute front runner is Sweden, where the figure is remarkably low at 22 deaths per million inhabitants. So those who drive towards Scandinavia are in a relatively good position.

Popular vacation countries under the microscope

Many Dutch people travel to Germany, France, Spain or Italy. What is the state of road safety there?

• Germany: 34 deaths per million inhabitants, similar to the Netherlands.
• Spain: 38, so slightly higher but still below the EU average.
• France: 46, right on average.
• Italy: 52, just above.

In short, most popular destinations outperform the notorious list leaders, but there are differences.

Why Sweden scores so much better

Why countries like Sweden and the Netherlands perform significantly better in this survey than, say, Romania is not revealed in the figures. Yet it is not that hard to figure out. In Western Europe and Scandinavia, the road network is more modern and better maintained, with good lighting and tight infrastructure. The vehicle fleet also plays a role, of course: there are more new, safe Volvo cars on the road in Sweden than in Eastern Europe.

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