Study on Serious Road Traffic Injuries in the EU

This research recommends that the EU should set a target to reduce the number of people seriously injured in road collisions, not just the number of deaths.

The research examined real world collision data and investigation outcomes from across Europe in a bid to better understand the most common collision situations that result in serious injuries.

Official targets to reduce road deaths in the EU have been in place since 2001, but there is no equivalent for serious injuries.

135,000 people were seriously injured on European roads; the figures also show that while the number of deaths on European roads has fallen ‘dramatically’ over the last decade, serious injuries have declined at a much slower rate.

This study found that cyclists are most likely to be seriously injured when travelling in urban areas with 30mph speed limits – with more collisions occurring in summer months, and in the afternoon. Pedestrians, however, are more at risk in winter months, with the elderly and children the most likely victims.

Seriously injured motorcyclists and car occupants are most likely to be male and young – though middle aged motorcyclists are also heavily represented in the collision statistics.