Safer roads: what are the EU measures to reduce car accidents?
The EU wants to reach zero road deaths by 2050. Find out which measures the Parliament has adopted over the last years to reduce car accidents.
EU roads are among the safest in the world with an average of 44 road fatalities per million inhabitants, against 174 deaths per million inhabitants globally. Road deaths in the EU have more than halved in the last two decades.
However, the European Union continues to work on improving road safety. Most recently, the European Parliament adopted a new law to ensure that drivers breaking important traffic rules abroad can lose their driving licence in their home country.
Deaths in traffic accidents in the EU - key statistics
The road death figures available for the EU reveal that:
- around 19,800 people were killed on the roads in 2024;
- around 100,000 people are seriously injured in road accidents every year;
- About 52% of the death-causing incidents in the EU took place on rural roads, 38% in urban areas and 9% on motorways in 2023;
- around three quarters of the people killed in road accidents in 2023 were men.
The ultimate goal: zero road deaths in the EU by 2050
In 2018, the EU set itself a 50% reduction target for road deaths and serious injuries by 2030. This was set out in the Commission's Strategic Action Plan on Road Safety and the EU road safety policy framework 2021-2030, which also laid out road safety plans aiming to reach zero road deaths by 2050 (‘Vision Zero’).
The road safety figures for 2024 show fatalities are going down gradually across the EU, but progress remains slow. Most EU countries are not on track to meet the EU’s reduction goals. It is clear further efforts are needed to improve road safety and save lives.
In March 2023, the Commission put forward a package of three proposals tackling road safety. One of them has since been adopted: the revised directive on cross-border enforcement of traffic rules and the European Parliament also adopted the other two - on driving disqualifications and driving licences – in October 2025.
In April 2025, the Commission released a new proposal to reduce the number of unsafe vehicles on EU roads.
Recent EU measures for safer roads explained
EU-wide driving licence disqualifications
When the authorities in an EU country take away someone’s driving licence because of a serious road offence, the penalty usually applies only in the country where the offence took place. It may not be enforced in the country that issued the licence or in other EU member states.
The new driving disqualification directive ensures that reckless drivers won’t be allowed to keep driving in any EU country. When a country decides to take away someone’s licence, they must quickly inform the country that issued the licence so it can enforce the penalty and make sure it is followed across the EU.
The rules focus on licence disqualification for very serious offences such as drink-driving, excessive speeding (for example, going 50 km/h over the limit), or causing a fatal accident.
The European Parliament adopted the new rules in October 2025.
Probationary period for new drivers
Separate rules on driving licences introduce a probationary period of at least two years for new drivers. MEPs insisted during negotiations with the EU governments that during this period new drivers will be subject to stricter rules and sanctions for driving under the influence of alcohol and not using safety belts or child-restraint systems while driving.
These rules were adopted by Parliament in October 2025.
Better enforcement of road traffic rules across borders
In 2019, around 40% of cross-border offences were not punished, either because the offender was not identified or because payment of the fine was not enforced. In 2024, the EU improved existing rules to help countries cooperate better when someone breaks traffic laws while driving in another EU country.
For example, following the 2024 updates, when a traffic offence happens, the country where the car is registered must help find out who was driving within two months after getting all the necessary details. Also, in certain cases, the country where the offence happened can ask the driver’s home country to collect the fine.
In addition, these rules now cover more types of traffic offences, not just speeding or drink-driving. They also include dangerous parking, unsafe overtaking, crossing solid lines, ignoring vehicle restrictions, breaking rules at railway crossings, driving the wrong way, overloaded vehicles, and hit-and-run accidents.
Mandatory life-saving technologies in new road vehicles
The legislation was adopted in 2019. It takes into account new challenges for road safety such as an aging population, the use of electronic devices while driving and the increasing number of cyclists and pedestrians on EU roads.
Thanks to this regulation, all new vehicles sold on the EU market must include about 30 life-saving technologies. Among them:
- Intelligent speed assistance to make a driver aware when exceeding the speed limit
- Advanced driver distraction warning to help keep attention on the traffic situation
- Emergency stop signal in the form of a light, signalling road users behind the vehicle that the driver is braking suddenly
- Reversing detection system to avoid collisions with people and objects behind the vehicle, with the help of a camera or a monitor
- Tyre pressure monitoring system warning the driver when a loss of pressure occurs
- Event data recorder to register relevant data shortly before, during, and immediately after a road accident.
For passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, it is mandatory to have an emergency-braking system - already compulsory for lorries and buses - as well as an emergency lane-keeping system.
Trucks and buses are required to include direct vision features, allowing the driver to see vulnerable road users, and alert systems detecting the presence of cyclists and pedestrians in the immediate vicinity of the vehicle.
Compulsory safety features are expected to drastically reduce the number of road fatalities, given that human error is involved in about 95% of all road traffic accidents.
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