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Road safety concern for Portugal, Norway, Czech Republic, Bulgaria

Road safety is seeing worrying standards for Portugal, Norway, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria.
By MJ Woof September 11, 2024 Read time: 2 mins
Road safety is a concern for Portugal, Norway and the Czech Republic according to the latest data – image © courtesy of Mike Woof

Portugal has seen an increase in crashes in 2024, while there is concern for road deaths for Norway, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria. 

According to the National Road Safety Authority (ANSR) in Portugal, there have been 14,045 road crashes for the first five months of 2024, a 3.8% increase. Serious injuries increased from 56 to 954, although road deaths dropped by nine to 179. Traffic volumes increased and collisions were the most common crashes, at 52.8% of incidents, with 41.3% of fatalities and 45.2% of serious injuries.   

There were 30 road deaths in Norway for July and August 2024 and 67 for the whole of 2024 so far. Driver distraction is a cause of 33% of crashes in Norway according to research. This has been a slight reduction from previous years however.  

In the Czech Republic there were 89 road deaths during the summer vacation period. This was an increase from the last two years, although it still represents a drop from the period before. During 2023 there were 86 road deaths in the same period. Cyclists and motorcyclists account for a high proportion of those killed and suffering serious injuries on roads in the Czech Republic and there is concern about the safety of vulnerable road users in the country. Inappropriate speed is listed as a key cause of crashes in the Czech Republic according to police reports. 

Between the beginning of 2024 and August 31st, there were 294 fatalities on Bulgaria’s roads. This is a drop of 54 compared to the same period during 2023. There were 4,747 road crashes in the period, with 5,944 people seriously injured. The data was presented by the Ministry of the Interior. Bulgaria’s road safety record is the worst in the European Union, at 82 fatalities/1,000,000 of population during 2023. 

Meanwhile, in Denmark there are concerns over the way drivers behave in stretches of roadworks. There were 377 crashes in stretches of roads undergoing maintenance and repair works during 2023 according to data from the Danish Road Directorate. Research suggests that many drivers may be unaware of the need to stick to posted speed restrictions in workzones when site personnel are not working. 

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