European Commission, yes to 30 km/h cities: “Measure with greatest impact on reducing road deaths”

Brussels – The European Commission argues that a 30 km/h speed limit in urban areas is “the measure with the greatest impact” in reducing road deaths. This is stated by the EU executive in its midpoint report on the implementation of the 2021–2030 road safety policy framework. This strategy stipulates that road safety plans should aim to achieve zero road deaths by 2050 (‘Vision Zero’), with a target of halving the number of victims by 2030. However, the Commission’s data on the implementation of the strategic framework reveal “a worrying reality”: although progress has been made, the pace of improvement in many Member States is insufficient to achieve the EU’s 2030 target. In particular, according to the Berlaymont Building’s assessments, in 2024, the mortality rate ranged from 20 deaths per million inhabitants in Sweden to 78 deaths per million inhabitants in Romania. Italy, like other countries, has seen only marginal improvements, with 51 deaths per million inhabitants, above the EU average of 45.

The number of deaths in 2024 (19,940 people) represents a 12 per cent decrease compared to 2019, but only a 2 per cent decrease compared to 2023, which is below the annual rate of 4.6 per cent needed to achieve the targets set for 2030 in the EU political framework on road safety 2021-2030. Furthermore, the Commission stresses that road accidents continue to impose enormous costs on the EU economy, estimated at around 2% of gross domestic product, while up to 100,000 people suffer life-changing injuries every year. In this scenario, the improvements recorded, although insufficient, are uneven across the 27 Member States: Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, and Slovenia are the seven countries on track to achieve the 50% reduction target by 2030; other Member States, including Ireland and Estonia, have seen an increase in the number of road casualties; others, such as France, Italy, and the Netherlands, have seen only marginal improvements. More specifically, in 2024, the mortality rate ranged from 20 deaths per million inhabitants in Sweden to 78 deaths per million inhabitants in Romania, with an average of 45 deaths; Italy is above the European average, with 51 deaths. “Halving the number of road deaths by 2030 (compared to 2019) would save around 11,000 lives and help reduce the approximately 100,000 cases of serious injuries that occur on our roads each year,” writes the Commission, pointing out that the most significant economic effects of accidents are the cost of healthcare and rehabilitation, followed by loss of productivity and economic decline.

Speed, the primary culprit

Speed “remains the factor that contributes most to road accidents. Excessive or inappropriate speed is associated with 10–15 per cent of all accidents and about 30 per cent of fatal collisions, and aggravates the consequences of all accidents. If a pedestrian is hit by a car travelling at 30 km/h, they have a 90 per cent chance of survival; at 50 km/h, that chance drops to 20 per cent,” writes the EU executive, pointing out that “many national, regional, and local authorities have already launched or planned new initiatives for speed management, such as 30 km/h speed limit zones in cities, particularly in areas where active and vulnerable road users” (such as pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists) “and vehicles frequently converge in a planned manner.”

In this regard, Italy has taken steps towards important goals. For example, Bologna was the first major city in the country to launch the grassroots initiative Città 30, which was later adopted by the municipal administration in 2024 and awarded the European Commission’s European Road Safety Award. Recently, following an appeal by a taxi driver, the Regional Administrative Court of Emilia Romagna ruled on the formal application of the measure, rather than its “merits”. More specifically, the Regional Administrative Court annulled the City 30 measure, explaining that the municipality should not have lowered the limit with a generalised order for all roads, but should have justified its decision on a road-by-road basis, while confirming that the administration has the right to set new speed limits, provided it gives detailed reasons for its choice. In general, the Commission highlights the following notable successes in road safety: tailored investments in road infrastructure and urban road safety in Poland; the introduction of a 30 km/h speed limit in urban centres nationwide in Spain; the creation of a comprehensive network of automated traffic monitoring cameras in France; a new national road safety policy platform for all levels of federal and regional government in Belgium; and well-designed and well-implemented road safety awareness campaigns in Denmark. “Every death on the roads is a tragedy,” said Apostolos Tzitzikostas, European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism. “The actions we are setting out today will help Member States save thousands of lives, reduce the heavy economic and social costs of road accidents, and ensure that Europe remains a world leader in automotive safety and innovation,” he concluded.