Mots clé impacts; prevention and response; political targets; indicators

Motorized transport is associated with a high level of risk. Traffic accidents, particularly road traffic accidents, are a major cause of death and serious injury in European countries. Road traffic accidents account for the most significant share of all transport accidents in terms of number of deaths and death rates per kilometre travelled. Although deaths from road accidents have been gradually decreasing in most European countries, progress has been uneven across the region.

Each year in the European region, road traffic accidents:

• kill about 127,000 people;
• injure some 2.5 million; and
• kill more children and young people aged 5-29 than any other cause of death.

Furthermore, road traffic accidents are a barrier to engaging in walking and cycling due to fear of accidents. The severity of accidents is almost twice as high for pedestrians as for car occupants. Children represent a particularly vulnerable group when it comes to health risks posed by road transport. This is due, in particular, to their still limited perception of and capacity to react to road traffic dangers and the traffic environment. This, in turn, could lead to restrictions on their freedom to walk and cycle, which in turn leads to unhealthy levels of inactivity.