Long years after having "gone free" of the famous "starred egg" (a mandatory sign on the back of a newly loaded car that forbade it to exceed 90 km/h), new restrictions on young drivers are among several recommendations to reduce the number of fatalities on European roads.
The idea and debate of imposing greater restrictions on young drivers is not new, but the 14th Road Safety Performance Index Report brought them back to the limelight.
Prepared by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), this report annually reviews the progress of road safety in Europe and then makes recommendations for improving it.
The recommendations
Among the various recommendations issued by this body — ranging from policies for greater cohesion between countries to the promotion of new forms of mobility — there is a set of specific recommendations for young drivers.Subscribe to our newsletter
According to the report (and even other European Transport Safety Council reports), certain activities considered to be high risk should be limited to young drivers, among which we highlight the recommendation to limit driving at night and to carry passengers in the vehicle.
Regarding these hypotheses, José Miguel Trigoso, president of the Portuguese Highway Prevention said to Jornal de Notícias: “Unlike adults, who drive more carefully when accompanied, young people at the wheel run more risks and have more accidents when they are with them. your pairs".
Why young drivers?
The reason behind making recommendations specifically aimed at young people is that, according to a report published in 2017, these are included in a risk group that comprises the age group from 18 to 24 years old.
According to this report, more than 3800 young people they are killed every year on EU roads, even being the biggest cause of death in this age group (18-24 years). Taking these numbers into account, the European Transport Safety Council considered that specific measures are needed for this group of young drivers.
The accident rate in Europe
As we told you at the beginning of this article, the 14th Road Safety Performance Index Report does not just make recommendations for reducing road accidents, it also monitors the progress of road safety in Europe on an annual basis.Consequently, the report reveals that in 2019 there was a 3% reduction in the number of deaths (22 659 victims in total) on European roads compared to 2018 , with a total of 16 countries recording a decrease in numbers.
Among these, Luxembourg (-39%), Sweden (-32%), Estonia (-22%) and Switzerland (-20%) stand out. As for Portugal, this reduction stood at 9%.
Despite these good indicators, according to the report, none of the Member States of the European Union is on track to reach the target of reducing road deaths established for the period 2010-2020.
During the period 2010-2019 there was a 24% reduction in the number of fatalities on European roads, a reduction which, although positive, is far from the 46% goal set for the end of 2020.
And Portugal?
According to the report, last year road accidents in Portugal claimed the life of 614 people (9% less than in 2018, the year in which 675 people died). In the period 2010-2019, the reduction verified is much higher, reaching 34.5% (the sixth largest reduction).
Still, the numbers presented by Portugal are still far from those of countries like Norway (108 deaths in 2019) or Sweden (221 road deaths last year).
Finally, with regard to deaths per one million inhabitants, the national numbers are not encouraging either. Portugal presents 63 fatalities per one million inhabitants , comparing unfavorably with, for example, 37 in neighboring Spain or even 52 in Italy, ranking 24th in this ranking in 32 countries analyzed.
Even so, it should be noted that compared to the figures presented in 2010 there was a clear evolution, as at that time there were 89 deaths per one million inhabitants.
Source: European Transport Safety Council.