Europe’s ambitious target of reducing road deaths by 50% by 2012 is beginning to look more unlikely.
Despite a positive start to the EU-wide road safety initiative, the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile has now reported that road accident fatalities in 2007 actually rose in some European countries compared with 2006.
Road fatalities rose in countries including the Czech Republic (up 17 %), Denmark (+33 %), Finland (+13 %), Slovenia (+12 %) and Sweden (+6%).
Sweden has been regarded as a leader in road safety.
The rise in fatalities in these countries has been somewhat offset by a continuing falls in Austria (down 6 %), Italy (-11 %), France (-2 %) and Spain (-9 %).