Road deaths in Cyprus last year dropped 18 per cent

Road deaths in Cyprus dropped by 18 per cent in 2022, the latest Road Safety Performance Index (PIN) revealed on Tuesday.

The number of road deaths dropped from 45 in 2021 to 37 last year. This makes the island’s ranking skyrocket from 17th place in 2021 to 9th place among the 27 EU member states in 2022, the report released by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) said.

Despite a collective 4 per cent increase in road deaths across the EU in 2022 compared to the previous year, Cyprus achieved significant progress in reducing fatalities.

Out of the 32 countries monitored by the PIN programme, Cyprus ranked among the top performers, with the impressive 18 per cent decline in road deaths.

The achievement places Cyprus alongside Slovenia, Latvia and Lithuania, all of which, according to the report, carried out significant efforts in curbing road fatalities.

The report further highlighted that road deaths increased in 19 out of the 32 countries between 2021 and 2022.

Comparatively, Cyprus recorded a road death rate of 41 per million people in 2022, surpassing the EU average of 46.

While the overall reduction in serious road injuries across the bloc from 2012 to 2022 remained low at 14 per cent, Cyprus stood out with an impressive rate of 54.1 per cent.

The achievement secured Cyprus the 3rd highest position among the EU27 countries, trailing behind only Greece and Romania.

The report also emphasised the EU’s ambitious target of halving the number of road deaths by 2030. To meet its goal, the EU27 collectively reduced road deaths by 9 per cent in 2022 compared to 2019.

However, to make substantial progress towards the 2030 target, an average annual decrease of 6.1 per cent should have resulted in a 17.2 per cent reduction.

Additionally, the report highlighted the significant impact of road safety efforts across the EU from 2013 to 2022. A total of 39,553 road deaths were prevented in the EU during this period compared to the number that would have been recorded if each member state had maintained the same annual figures as in 2012.

As the EU strives to tackle road safety challenges, the European Commission unveiled proposals for three road safety legislations on March 1, 2023.

These proposed measures, including the revision of the EU driving license directive, the revision of the cross-border enforcement directive, and a new EU directive on driving disqualifications, aiming to maximise the potential to save lives within the EU Road Safety Policy Framework 2021-2030.