A new ETSC analysis published this month presents information and estimates of the risk of death and injury we face in transport and travel in the European Union. ETSC Update presents the key findings of this review and other new research and considers what they mean for everyday travel choices by EU citizens and for decisions about policies and resource.

• Road transport has, by far, the highest overall fatality risk level when measured by distance travelled.

• Rail travel is the safest mode per kilometre travelled, followed closely by bus and air.

• Air passenger risk relates to the number of take-off and landings. 82 per cent of crashes occur during take off, approach and landing phases. The fatality risks on longer distance flights are lower than similar distances travelled by train.

• The risks associated with ferry travel are 8 times that of train travel.

• Road crashes are the second most serious cause of death or admission to hospital for inhabitants of the EU, preceded by cancer and followed by coronary heart diseases;

• Road crashes are the main cause of death for EU citizens under 45 years old.

• Death or hospital admission rates from road crashes is over 6 times higher than from cancer, and 14 times higher than from coronary heart disease for citizens under 45 years.

• Road crashes lead to around 43,000 deaths annually comprising over 90 per cent of all transport crash deaths.

• The road passenger transport mortality rate for all ages is between 200 to 400 times higher than for the other passenger transport modes, not only because road travel has a higher fatality risk but also because nearly 90 per cent of all passenger transport in the EU is road transport.

• Road crashes lead to over 90 per cent of all transport crash costs each year which means costs that are:

• around twice the entire EU annual budget for all activity

• higher than for cancer or coronary heart disease

• higher than congestion or environmental pollution costs, according to the European Commission.

EU DEATH RATES 1997 per billion motor vehicle km

Source IRTAD 1999, SWOV 1999 (Fatality rate for Portugal is 1996, exposure for Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain and Sweden is estimated on basis of ratio of number of motor vehicles in 1997 and average vehicle mileage before 1997).

• The highest road death rate in EU countries is 7 times greater than the lowest.

• The five countries with lowest rates have had numerical targets for casualty reduction for several years.

EU ROAD DEATHS PER 100 MILLION KM

• Within road transport the highest death rate by far is for the two-wheeled motor vehicle users.

• Motorcycle or moped travel death risk is 20 times higher than for car travel.

• Car travel is ten times safer than walking, but is also ten times less safe than bus travel.

TYPICAL COMMUTER TRIPS USING SEVERAL MODES IN SUBURBAN/URBAN AREAS

• In some cases it is safer for the traveller to be a car driver than a bus or train passenger. This is because travel by car avoids the high risk of walking or cycling that is necessary before and after travel by train or bus.

• If more than 15 per cent of the trip is conducted by cycle or on foot, then it is safer to use the car over the same distance.

• For the safety of the community as a whole, however, bus or train travel is safer, because one car driver inflicts more injury on other road users per kilometre travelled than either walkers or cyclists.

Measured over time spent on the activity, the fatality risk in road transport is

• 40 times higher than for employment activity overall

• 12 times higher than for home activity

The fatality risk of the safest travel modes – by bus, coach and train – is about twice as great as that at work.

• More priority for transport safety is needed in transport policies at local, national and international levels.

• National and EU Health Policies should recognise the relatively high mortality and serious injury rates resulting from the various modes of passenger transport in the EU.

• There are large differences in the risks associated with different modes. More priority should be given to reducing road transport risks.

• Priority for transport safety must recognise the high fatality and serious injury risks of powered two wheelers, cycling and walking.

• The safety of cycling and walking needs to be improved to optimise the safety of public transport trips.

• The comparisons between different travel modes given in this newsletter are best estimates on the basis of 1995/97 information. Data to assess crash risk needs to be collected on a routine basis across the EU.

• Standards for the collection of risk data should be established at EU level for the different transport modes.

• Detailed risk data information on road transport for each EU country needs to be based on exposure data from traveller surveys for randomly selected households, over the whole year.

• Regular traffic counts, on all types of roads, of different vehicles, including cyclists and pedestrians are necessary.

Matthijs J. KOORNSTRA (Chairman)
Dr. Jeremy BROUGHTON
Jean-Pierre CAUZARD
Ruddy DIELEMAN
Prof. Andrew EVANS
Cees GLANSDORP
Lasse HANTULA
Prof. Niels JORGENSEN
Dr. Werner KÖPPEL
Frank TAYLOR