Greece has one of the highest numbers of road accident fatalities in the European Union, a new study shows, and the figures are way above the EU average.
According to the study’s data, Greece is the 7th worst among the European Union’s 27 member-states in terms of the number of people killed in road accidents, with 59.6 deaths per million inhabitants. The EU average is 45.5 deaths per million, which makes the toll for Greece 31 percent above average.
Bulgaria has the most traffic fatalities, with a colossal 81.6 deaths per million inhabitants, 78 percent above the EU average. Romania follows closely, with 81.1 deaths per million inhabitants, also 78 percent above the average. Latvia, Croatia and Portugal follow, ahead of Greece.
In contrast, Norway has the lowest number of road accident fatalities, with 20 deaths per million inhabitants, which is half the EU average. The Scandinavian country has managed to reduce fatalities by 41 percent compared to 2013.
In 2023, 1,545 people died in road accidents across the European Union, the study says.
This is the latest data on road traffic fatalities in the EU, announced by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) and analyzed by Swiss website Vignetteswitzerland.
“While major steps have been taken in the last decades to improve road safety, there’s still a lot of work to be done to reduce the number of road accident fatalities,” Mattijis Winjnmalen, Director of the website said. “No country has reached the goal of reducing road accident-related fatalities to 50 percent, compared to 2013.”
Hundreds die in Greece every year due to road accidents, one of the highest numbers in Europe
In 2022, compared to the rest of the EU, Greece was the fourth worst in terms of road accident fatalities (71 deaths when the EU average was 46), with experts then citing poor driving behavior.
Prior to 2021, experts added, there had been a decrease in fatalities due to new highways, the reduction of private car use during the pandemic and better vehicles.
Despite the improvements, the number of people killed in road accidents in Greece is alarmingly high compared to the rest of Europe. In 2023, 621 people lost their lives in traffic accidents across Greece and police registered 11,201 road accidents. This was up by 6.8 percent compared to the same period in 2022. Fatalities, however, saw a 5 percent drop. This was down from 654 in 2022. To put things into perspective, Greece has a population of about 10.3 million.
In December 2024, the Greek government announced plans to install 1,388 cameras across the country by 2026, aiming to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries by 50 percent by 2030.
The cameras will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week and will be used to monitor speeding, red light and crosswalk parking violations, as well as the use of phones while driving. Helmet and seat belt wearing will also be monitored.
Data will immediately be forwarded to the police for verification, and if an offense is confirmed, motorists will receive an SMS.
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