Road accidents claim thousands of lives every year. According to the latest report published by the European Commission, 19,940 people died on EU roads in 2024.
This is 12% less than the number of victims of accidents in 2019 and confirms the steady but not fast enough decrease in fatal accidents in recent years.
Bulgaria recorded a decrease of 24% over the same period, but nevertheless continues to be in second place in the EU in terms of the number of victims per million inhabitants. The data also shows that the most common cause of fatal accidents in the country is driving at an inappropriate speed on roads in rural areas.
Much more effort is needed to reach the European target of halving road deaths by 2030. This is why the EC has taken a number of measures to improve road safety, including:
- stricter cross-border rules for prosecuting offenders from other EU countries
- updated driving license requirements
- stricter rules for vehicle registration and technical inspections
Let us not forget, however, that in order to improve road safety, personal responsibility is also needed. Above all, from our behavior - as drivers and pedestrians - it depends on the roads being a safer place for everyone, the European Commission calls.