EU Transport Scoreboard

The EU Transport Scoreboard, a grading system published by the European Commission which compares all 28 EU member states, shows that in 2015 only Malta and Sweden had less road fatalities per million inhabitants than the UK.

At 28 road fatalities per million inhabitants, the UK figure is almost half the EU average (52). At 36, Ireland is also below the average.

However, in terms of road congestion the UK finished bottom of the 28 countries. Measured in ‘hours spent in road congestion annually’, UK motorists spent 41.45 hours in congested traffic, compared to the average of 29.49 hours.

Focussing on the ‘quality of roads’, the UK ranked 12/28. Based on a survey by the World Economic Forum and using a scale from one (extremely underdeveloped) to seven (extensive and efficient), the UK scored 5.13, slightly above the EU average of 4.77. The Netherlands topped the table with 6.14.

Another area where the UK did not perform well was ‘new passenger vehicles using alternative fuels’, such as electric cars. At 1.1%, the UK fell well below the EU average of 2.9%, and was dwarfed by Italy (12.8%) and the Netherlands (12.59%). The UK’s overall rank was 11/28.

On a related topic, the UK also fell below the EU average in terms of electric vehicle charging points. Measured against 100,000 city inhabitants, the UK had 20.4 charging points, compared to the average of 26.3. The Netherlands topped that particular chart with 145.4.