Young people and Vision Zero

Education plays a crucial part in our ambition to reach Vision Zero. It can help young people to better understand the potential risks on the road and how they can adapt their behaviour to avoid potential danger. Luckily, the statistics for young people between 15 and 17 years old reveal a positive evolution. From 2010 to 2019, there was a decrease of 42% in the number of fatalities. And even though we need to take into consideration that the population of this group also reduced by 6%, it is still a good sign. Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Poland and Austria witnessed the strongest decrease.

The most fatalities that do happen take place in Central and Eastern European Member States. However, when looking at these numbers we should also take into consideration that these countries experience a high road mortality in general, and that the percentage of young people killed on the road in relation to the total number of fatalities is often lower than in other Member States. For example, The Netherlands and Denmark have a below average mortality rate but a high proportion of fatalities involving young people. The distribution by transport mode is also different in each Member State. In Belgium, Ireland and Denmark, about one third of all fatalities among young people are pedestrians. In Portugal, Italy, Austria, Germany and Greece more than half of the fatalities in this age group are motorized two wheelers.

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