Safe Road Design to Cut Annual Deaths and Injuries in Europe by 50,000

Europe can cut its toll of road deaths and serious injuries by a third simply by investing in better road design, saving 150 lives and serious injuries a day and Europe's economy € 50 billion a year.

According to the new European Campaign for Safe Road Design launched at the FIA EuroCouncil in Copenhagen, a third of Europe's serious injuries or fatalities on the roads are preventable over the next 10 years.

In the last 10 years, two million people have been killed or seriously injured in road crashes in the countries of the European Union alone. The financial cost of road crashes is two per cent of European GDP annually - more than the amount each of Europe's nations typically spends on primary schools or doctors.

The Campaign is calling for a safe road infrastructure initiative targeted on the busy roads where most deaths occur. Risky stretches of the Trans-European Road Network will be among the first to be identified later this year by the Campaign.

John Dawson, chairman of the campaign said "Not only are the social and economic returns from removing risky roads among the highest in the economy, the projects are 'quick to shovel' and ideal for helping put Europe back to work."

June 2009.