Road safety: Europe is off track

The ETSC’s findings are worrying. Since 2019, road deaths across Europe have fallen by only 15%, whereas a 31% reduction would have been needed to stay on course for the 2030 target. In 2025, 19,500 people lost their lives on EU roads and more than 100,000 were seriously injured, with the annual decline limited to just 2%. At this pace, deaths would now have to fall by around 10% every year to keep the promise of a continent half as deadly.

Some countries nonetheless show that significant progress is achievable. Poland has recorded a 43% drop since 2019, Denmark 32% and Belgium 31%. Norway and Sweden, with just 19 deaths per million inhabitants, remain the benchmark. Most member states, by contrast, are falling behind. No figures were available for Luxembourg when the report closed, so it does not feature — but its own statistics, published by STATEC, paint a clear picture.

Luxembourg: more serious accidents, but no more of them

In 2024, the Grand Duchy had reached its lowest level ever recorded, with 18 deaths — a far cry from the 132 victims of the 1970s. In 2025, however, the death toll rose sharply: 29 people were killed on Luxembourg’s roads, eleven more than the previous year.

Although the number of deaths rose, the number of accidents remained paradoxically stable. The 1,126 injury accidents recorded in 2025 are in line with the average of the past four years (1,094 in 2022, 1,001 in 2023, 1,136 in 2024), despite ever-denser traffic. It is therefore the severity of accidents, not their frequency, that has worsened. In 2025, the figures show that 1,498 people were affected, including 335 seriously injured (up from 308 in 2024) and 1,134 slightly injured.

As everywhere in Europe, it is vulnerable road users who bear the brunt. The number of pedestrians killed almost tripled, jumping from 3 to 8. Motorcyclists remain heavily exposed, with 9 deaths, while car occupants accounted for 12 fatalities (up from 6 in 2024). One positive note: no cyclist was killed, for the second year running.

More accidents in summer than in winter

The causes of accidents are remarkably consistent. Excessive or inappropriate speed remains the leading risk factor, present in almost one accident in four (24%), ahead of alcohol (19%) and failure to give way (15%). Alcohol remains a persistent scourge: a driver tests positive in one accident in five, up after the 2024 low (16%).

Danger increases sharply at night. More than half of accidents occurring between 11pm and 5am involve alcohol, a share that peaks at 67% between midnight and 1am — two accidents in three. In terms of type, collisions between two moving vehicles dominate (50%), ahead of impacts with a fixed obstacle (26%) and accidents involving a pedestrian (15%).

Another finding runs counter to popular belief: most accidents happen in summer. The peaks fall in May (131) and June (136), the lowest in December (56) and February (59). This is partly explained by the greater use of motorbikes and bicycles in fine weather. Geographically, 56% of accidents occur in urban areas, 35% in rural areas and 9% on motorways.

Faced with this rebound, La Sécurité Routière is calling for efforts not to be relaxed and points to legislation it considers too lax on e-scooters. The national ‘Road Safety 2024-2028’ plan, based on the Vision Zero strategy, must now prove its worth.

Source: STATEC – Grand Ducal Police (infographic no. 05, 06/2026); European Transport Safety Council; La Sécurité Routière.