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Ireland is now the third-safest country in the EU when it comes to deaths on the roads, according to preliminary figures from the European Commission.
The numbers now show that Ireland had 31 road deaths per million inhabitants, putting it behind only Denmark (on 30 deaths per million inhabitants) and the UK (28 road deaths per million inhabitants).
The EU average was 49 deaths per million inhabitants with Romania (96 per million) and Bulgaria (88 per million) having the highest fatality rates. In total, 25,100 people died on EU roads in 2018 while around 135,000 were seriously injured.
Ireland has made some of the biggest improvements in road safety, too, with a 30 per cent reduction in fatalities since 2010. That puts us towards the top in the most-improved group, behind Latvia, Denmark, Slovenia, Portugal, Lithuania, and Greece and ahead of big safety hitters such as Finland, Germany, and the UK. Shockingly, the safety-conscious Swedes saw a 22 per cent increase in road fatalities in the same period.
Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc said: "While I of course welcome any reduction in road traffic fatality figures, even a single road death is unacceptable. We have been assertive and ambitious in tackling road safety, adopting a strategic action plan, concrete actions on vehicle and infrastructure safety, and a policy framework for the next decade. As we continue to work towards 'Vision Zero' - zero road deaths by 2050, we are committed to working with all Member States, as well as the Parliament and road safety community, to provide a level of safety that EU citizens demand and deserve."
That 'Virtually Zero' plan will encompass such actions as the fitting of speed limit warnings to all new cars by 2022, and equipment to monitor such things as driver distraction and drunk-driving. On top of reducing fatalities, the EU also wants to cut the number of serious injuries in half by 2030.