Filenews 28 March 2024
In Europe, one in two fatalities on asphalt was on country roads, while in Cyprus 62% of the dead were in residential areas.
These figures are contained in the 46th PIN Flash Report 46 of the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) published today and presents data in the 27 Member States of the European Union (EU), as well as Switzerland, Israel, Norway, Serbia and the United Kingdom, on road safety on rural roads.
According to data recorded over the three-year period 2020-2022, more than half of road deaths in the 25 EU Member States that provided data occurred on country roads (52%).
For the same period, 39% of road deaths occurred on urban roads and 9% on highways. In Cyprus, during the same period, the percentage of road deaths on provincial roads was 28%, while on urban roads it was 62% and on motorways 9%.
The percentage of road deaths on provincial roads recorded in Cyprus was the lowest among the countries participating in the PIN program and available data. It should be noted, however, that Cyprus recorded the second highest percentage of deaths in urban road deaths (62%) after Romania which recorded 63%.
From the data it is evident that the most serious road safety problems in the EU are concentrated on country roads, while in Cyprus they are concentrated on urban roads.
Also, according to the report, in the decade 2012-2022 there was a 25% reduction in road deaths on country roads in the EU, which is higher than the decrease in road deaths on other roads, which was 18%. In Cyprus, the reduction rates of fatalities on provincial roads were 47%, while on other roads only 17.6.
Separation of vehicles – pedestrians
As measures to reduce road fatalities on European provincial roads, ETSC advocates systematically collecting data on the level of safety of these roads, upgrading road infrastructure, limiting speed and providing facilities for the safe movement of vulnerable road users.
It is also very important to upgrade the technological upgrade of vehicles with systems such as Automated Emergency Braking (AEB) and Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA), which will become mandatory for all vehicles registered in the EU from July 2024.
With regard to the upgrading of road infrastructure, the lack of separation of opposite directions of traffic and between motor vehicles and pedestrians and cyclists, obstacles at the ends of roads and poor planning of bends are mentioned as elements of insecurity.
The ETSC concludes with a series of recommendations to national governments and to the EU. Among other things, it is recommended for:
-Investigation and study of all fatal and serious injuries and implementation of best practices in the management of high-risk signs.
-Improving infrastructure safety across the entire road network by applying the concepts of "self-explaining" roads and "forgiving" roadsides.
-Creation of safe road junctions by constructing roundabouts, pedestrian underpasses or by using physical interventions to significantly reduce speed at road junctions.
-Where possible, separation of opposite directions of traffic by an intermediate barrier and, where necessary, installation of side safety barriers.
-Where cyclists and pedestrians may be present or the possibility of attracting them, creation of separate facilities for cyclists and pedestrians, always on new and upgraded roads, and as additions elsewhere.
-Develop, and encourage authorities responsible for setting speed limits, to implement national speed limit guidelines, based on the Safe System approach.
-Strengthen enforcement of traffic rules, in particular on speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, with an emphasis on roads with high volumes of traffic over long distances.
-Diversion of heavy vehicles, especially lorries and buses, from nearby country roads, mainly from those with two lanes without a middle divider, to motorways, main arteries or to roads of the Trans-European Road Network, with higher levels of safety.
-Encourage Member States, through a recommendation from the European Commission, to apply safe speed limits, such as 30 km/h on urban roads in built-up areas and in areas where there are large numbers of cyclists and pedestrians, 70 km/h on country roads without a middle divider and a maximum speed of 120 km/h or less on motorways.
It is noted that the representative of Cyprus in the Road Safety PIN program is Mr. George Morfakis.
