In 2001, transport crashes in the EU killed about 39,200 EU citizens. They caused over 3.3 million casualties and cost over 180 billion Euros, around twice the total EU budget for all activity.

97 percent of all transport deaths in the EU are related to road crashes. Road accidents lead to more than 93 percent of all transport crash costs. They cost more than congestion and pollution, or cancer and heart disease. Road crashes are the leading cause of death and hospital admission for EU citizens under 50 years.

In 2001, France, Germany, Italy and Spain accounted for 68 percent of the total of 38,935 road fatalities in the EU. Although France and the UK have about the same number of inhabitants, France had about twice the number of fatalities, and its fatality risk was twice as high.

The southern EU countries, France and Belgium had fatality risks above the average for the EU, and risks in the other EU countries were below-average. The death rate per motor vehicle kilometre in the worst performing countries was five times higher than that in the best performing Member States (in 1997 this ratio was 7).

For a detailed overview, see Transport safety performance in the EU - a statistical overview (July 2003).