Road accidents in Italy have cost 2% of GDP

The European Commission has published new statistics showing that EU road fatalities decreased by 11 per cent in 2010. However, country by country statistics show that the number of deaths still varies greatly across the EU. Most countries achieved double-digit reductions in the number of road deaths over the past year, including Luxembourg (33%), Malta (29%) Sweden (26%) and Slovakia (26%).

CO2 emissions from Danish cars are the lowest within the EU, according to new data, based on information provided by all EU member countries about passenger cars sold during 2010 and published by the European Environmental Agency. Danish passenger cars' CO2 emissions amounted to 126.6 g/km, followed by Portugal at 127.3 g/km and France at 130.5 g/km. Denmark is also among the countries that have reduced their CO2 emissions from new cars the most compared with the past year.

Fifty local councils in England saw more than a ten per cent increase in killed and seriously injured (KSI) crash rates between 2010 and 2011, according to an Institute for Advanced Motorists (IAM) analysis of the new road accident figures. The biggest increases in KSI numbers were in St Helens – 62 per cent, Portsmouth – 57 per cent, Stoke on Trent – 57 per cent, and Coventry – 51 per cent. A further 76 councils saw increases in the KSI rate above the national average of two per cent.