EU Official : The Brexit British are the safest drivers in the EU

Latest figures from EU Commission (for 2018) show fewest traffic deaths occur in UK

You’re three times as likely to die on Romanian roads, twice as likely to die on Italian roads

Yesterday the EU Commission revealed its latest figures for road safety. The figures relate to 2018, when the UK was still a member. As usual, however, the EU Commission has reported on the figures as if the EU did not contain its second-largest funder in 2018.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org has analysed the raw data and we can report that the safest roads in the EU in 2018 were in fact in the United Kingdom.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

In 2018, 25,178 people died in road traffic accidents in the EU28

Per million inhabitants, the official EU data shows you’re least likely to die on British roads
Deaths from road traffic accidents of all kinds in the UK were 1,839 – that’s 28 per million people

In Romania and Bulgaria you are over three times as likely to die on the roads

In the following countries you are twice as likely to die:-

Italy
Poland
Portugal
Greece
Croatia
Latvia
Hungary
Czech Republic
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Cyprus

And in the following countries you are 75% more likely to die:-

Belgium
Estonia
France

In the EU27, 45% of those who died in road traffic accidents were in cars
21% were pedestrians, 15% on motorcycles, and 8% on bicycles
And 12% of fatalities involved light and heavy goods vehicles, buses and coaches, and mopeds

Observations

Readers who have driven on the continent to any extent, whether in their own cars which they have taken through the Channel Tunnel, or in cars they have hired locally whilst on holiday or business, may not be terribly surprised by our report above.

Indeed, one of the Brexit Facts4EU.Org team claims still to be undergoing PTSD therapy, some 25 years after leaving Milan airport in a hire car and unknowingly launching out into the Milanese rush hour traffic.

More positive news for Brexit Britain

A surprise it may not be, but nevertheless we feel it is important to portray as complete a picture as possible for the British public, as the United Kingdom completes its exodus from the EU over the next six months.

Once again, the United Kingdom tops a table for EU countries. And once again the EU fails to report this. Come to that, the BBC will fail to report it too, we have no doubt.

The totalitarian EU Commission resembles the former Soviet Union more each day

We continue to find it extraordinary that the EU Commission is pursuing its policy of airbrushing the UK out of its history, not even six months after the UK formally left.

Statistics naturally lag behind real events, and the EU is still reporting on matters relating to 2017, 2018 (as in this case), and 2019. In each of those years the UK was a fully paid-up and fully-paying member of the EU club. In fact the UK was the second-largest banker for the EU. Only Germany - with a population much larger than the UK’s - paid more.

It is for the EU Commission to defend itself over this behaviour. All we will say is that the Stalinist and other communist regimes were famous for airbrushing inconvenient truths out of their pasts. This generally did not end well for them. If the EU Commission are happy to make it possible, legitimate, and inevitable for increasing comparisons to be made between its behaviour and the behaviour of historically-recognised, totalitarian and barbaric regimes, then so be it.

A big thank you to our readers

Thanks to one or two lovely new donors in the last few days, and some regular monthly donations, we will make it through to the Fourth of July. In addition to wishing our American friends across the Atlantic well, this year the date has some more significance, as the UK Government relaxes its absurd lockdown provisions some more.

If you would like to support freedom of speech and the goal of a fully-free and independent United Kingdom, and keep us going until we achieve this, we need your help. Quick and secure donation methods are below. You will receive a nice, cuddly, ‘thank you’ message from a member of our team. Your donation can be confidential or not – we respect your wishes. Please give us a boost today, no matter how small or large. Thank you.

[ Sources: EU Commission data from 01 Jul 2020 ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Thur 02 July 2020

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Reader Comments 14

1. Not4EU, London , Thursday, July 02, 2020, 06:49:

Airbrushing the UK from the published data is an attempt to fool the people of the 27 member states by hiding the very real impact of its second largest net contributor leaving. They really do think that the people in EU countries are stupid. These are 'restatements', reflecting a material change in circumstances but, without the 'original' statement for comparison ever being published. Very disingenuous.
Of course, the same data sets (input of 28 but only showing the output of 27) will be used by the 'rejoin' brigade to 'demonstrate' what a wonderful EUtopia awaits us if only we would rejoin. As we are fully paying as if a member until the end of 2020, it gives several years before data from 2021 onwards will be used. Misleading information & lying by omission is something the anti-BBC excels at.
I wouldn't put it past them using the 27's data (with 28's money) to declare that they have finally fixed the financial black hole in their pockets & have their accounts signed off for the first time in decades. Now, where's that brown envelope for the Auditors?

2. Catherine, Dollar , Thursday, July 02, 2020, 08:05:

I suspect road-worthiness is a factor in number of accidents. The UK has one of the most careful MOT systems I've seen anywhere. Another factor is drink/drinking ... I'll get into trouble for this, but I bet the areas in the UK with higher numbers of temporary workers from eastern European and Baltic countries have higher road accidents/deaths.

3. Sydney Ashurst , Thursday, July 02, 2020, 08:13:

Road Deaths.
Take a look at the bureaucratic Brussels first Mobility Package, of which we will be well out of.
After three years of discussions on how to reform international road transport legislation, the EU intends to rubberstamp legislative provisions which have been processed in a chaotic way, lack a thorough impact assessment, and which are opposed by one-third of Member States. Proposed provisions disrupt EU single market by introducing artificial administrative barriers. At the same time, they go against the EU’s ambitious climate goals, a fact that has been recognised by the Commission.
After three years of discussions on how to reform international road transport legislation, the EU intends to rubberstamp legislative provisions which have been processed in a chaotic way, lack a thorough impact assessment, and which are opposed by one-third of Member States. Proposed provisions disrupt EU single market by introducing artificial administrative barriers. At the same time, they go against the EU’s ambitious climate goals, a fact that has been recognised by the Commission.
The European Parliament intends to agree on the provisions containing an obligation for vehicles to return regularly to the country of establishment of the haulier or restrictions on cross-trade and cabotage operations.
The compulsory return of a vehicle will effectively exclude some Member States from the EU Single Market and impose significant and possibly insurmountable barriers to others. Induced returns of vehicles will certainly lead to increased congestion and, what is particularly distressing, to the deterioration in road safety – that would be contrary to the EU’s transport policy, which puts reduction of road fatalities and serious road accidents high on the agenda.
EURACTIV

4. James Bertram , Thursday, July 02, 2020, 08:53:

https://www.brake.org.uk/fa...
In 2018, of the 1,784 road deaths, the majority (58%) occurred on rural roads, yet the most casualties (63%) occurred on urban roads.
-
The theory is that accidents are more likely to be fatal in the countryside - no pavements, hitting slow-moving (horse, cyclists, walkers, tractors), no-moving (trees) objects, and head-on (due to narrow lanes, sharp bends, low visibility, etc).
Currently the speed limit on rural roads is 60mph unless marked lower.
-
I would like to see the law changed so that the speed limit on rural roads is 40mph unless marked otherwise (up or down).
Not only will this help reduce the number of human deaths, it will also drastically reduce the number of animals and birds killed on the roads (Note: this is perhaps the one good thing to have come out of lockdown). It will also cut down on fuel emissions, wear and tear on cars, and reduce road surface damage (lowering taxes and reducing road repair delays). Too, it will make the countryside a more peaceful and pleasant place to live and visit, safer to hike, to bike, less noise, cleaner air.
Once we are finally out of the EU and all its nonsense, it is then high time to change Britain for the better.

5. Derek Lund , Thursday, July 02, 2020, 09:40:

Blimey! I thought we were bad enough !
-
James Bertram comment 4; Drivers already disregard speed limits so reducing the national speed limit to 40mph won't necessarily work. IAM Roadsmart (previously Institute of Advanced Motorists) regard lots of specific speed limits as "driving by numbers", in other words driving without giving it much thought. The solution, they say, is education of drivers. If drivers can be taught to do one simple thing which is to drive at a speed at which they can stop in a straight line on their own side of the road within the distance that they can see is clear then many accidents will be avoided. If you add a constant anticipation of what might lie around the next bend then you protect yourself from the errors of other drivers. All the above requires intense concentration, constant observation and planning on the part of the driver and this simply does not happen in many cases.

6. James Bertram , Thursday, July 02, 2020, 10:48:

Agreed, Derek - that's why 40mph on rural roads (if a long, clear, wide, stretch, then mark it higher). A lot of drivers will unthinkingly drive at this speed, as you say, 'driving by numbers'. That will generally slow the traffic down to 40mph. Too, cars going at 40mph won't feel pressurised to drive faster by cars close behind. No, they won't be better drivers generally - most people from urban areas haven't a clue about driving in the countryside (and education on driving to protect wildlife would help a lot if it was included in the road test e.g if a deer runs across a road often another will follow; look for shining eyes at night; badgers will often face an oncoming vehicle head on; large birds are slow to take off; etcetera). If they drive to anticipate wildlife, the most vulnerable 'road-user', then they will anticipate pretty much everything else too. At 40mph you can stop, slow or swerve, to avoid almost anything (if alert). At 60mph you just wipe out whatever is in your way; if you brake hard or swerve at this speed you have a high risk of a nasty accident.

7. Sydney Ashurst , Thursday, July 02, 2020, 11:59:

Rotating Presidency of the European Council. With Germany taking over yesterday and coinciding with the last six months of transition what will be the outcome.
Chancellor Merkel has made some statements.
Progress of Brexit talks between the United Kingdom and the European Union is “to put it cautiously, very limited”, she told her national Parliament, and that the EU “must be prepared … for the possibility that a deal doesn’t materialise.”
From the 'Horses Mouth' as it were. How much does Germany want a deal. Not enough to upset France and the single market , it appears.

8. JonL , Thursday, July 02, 2020, 17:22:

Sydney Ashurst: Good comments. I am starting to think that we are headed for a kind of "managed no-deal". That is, both sides recognize that a deal can't be had today, but neither side wants to commit itself to just walking away. The EU doesn't want to abandon the idea of the UK being part of its Brezhnevite "near abroad" so it does not want to recognize a total split come end-2020. To put it another way, it thinks that economic realities after 2020 will change minds in London and it wants the "welcome back" mat to remain in place.
The UK has a similar but reversed position. It wants success post-2020 to cause the EU finally to admit that the UK can trade freely with the EU without being a satellite. It expects that the EU will want to re-open FTA talks in a year or two, so it does not want a rancorous, alienating ending this year, but something more like a suspension.
I think people who are looking forward to end-2020 being a clean break moment are going to be disappointed. I think we are going to be waiting to see which side blinks first, for years.

9. John C , Thursday, July 02, 2020, 18:17:

Remove all road markings and cats eyes from roads except from junctions.
That slows you down!

10. Sydney Ashurst , Thursday, July 02, 2020, 21:18:

JonL.
The EU are no nearer agreeing a trade deal with the UK now than they were 4 years ago, so when are they going to admit they cannot close the Port of Calais on 1st January.
Slowing the traffic flow down to any large degree will be equally disruptive to Continental businesses and their hauliers delivering time dated produce, which they risk not being paid for. Eire use the UK as a land bridge.
WTO and tariffs are no threat to the UK, mini deals such as Aviation will be concluded.
As you suggest talks will continue on an FTA at a later date.
The level playing field which is all about state aid has been blown by Germany and Italy taking major stakes in their National airlines.
Norway an EFTA Country agrees annual payments and quotas for fishing rights in their waters. Over fishing has taken pl;ace and not been properly controlled under the CFP.

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