Road traffic safety

The faster a vehicle moves and strikes a pedestrian, the more likely it is to cause severe injury. The final outcome also depends on the height of the vehicle. Even speeds of 40 km/h in residential areas are considered high, as pedestrian injuries at such speeds can be quite serious.

The new Greek traffic code proposes a 30 km/h speed limit in urban areas to enhance road safety, particularly for pedestrians and cyclists, reduce noise and improve air quality. The idea, inspired by the Stockholm Declaration on Global Road Safety (2020), is supported by the UN, WHO and global campaigns like #Love30.

Fourteen people lost their lives, and 569 were injured in 501 traffic accidents in Attica during November.

Specifically, the incidents included:

Greece continues to grapple with alarmingly high road fatality rates, as traffic accidents remain a daily tragedy. To make matters worse, there were, according to the SOS Traffic Crimes Association, 38 hit-and-run incidents in July and August, 74% of which occurred in urban areas.

Since the beginning of the year, Bulgaria has witnessed a staggering 5,389 traffic accidents, resulting in 334 fatalities and 6,794 injuries. Over the past 24 hours alone, there have been 17 serious accidents reported, leading to one death and injuring 23 individuals, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The government is preparing to implement a radically revamped road safety system, featuring a comprehensive network of smart surveillance cameras across key locations in the Attica region, with the aim of enhancing traffic law enforcement.

New analysis published by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) shows that in the past year 2023 there were 20,418 deaths on EU roads. These figures show that deaths on European roads have fallen by just 1% compared to 2022. To meet the EU's target of a 50% reduction in road deaths by 2030, an annual drop of at least 6.1 is needed %.

Although there has been a significant decline since 2000 in fatal accidents due to driving under the influence of alcohol, almost one in two respondents (44%) said in a recent nationwide survey of 2,191 people conducted by Ierax Analytix for the EUROKTEO MOT center in Thessaloniki that they have driven while inebriated at least once.

In Bulgaria, road safety experts highlight a grim statistic: approximately 650 individuals lose their lives each year in road accidents, with an additional 8,000 sustaining serious injuries. Vladimir Todorov, chairman of the Association of Accident Victims, addressed this concerning trend on BNT, emphasizing a stagnation in accident rates over the past decade.

The Bulgarian government has proposed a significant change to the country's road traffic regulations, aiming to reduce the maximum speed limit on highways from 140 km/h to 130 km/h. Additionally, the amendment bill seeks to lower the speed limit on so-called public roads from 120 km/h to 110 km/h, according to the "Sega" newspaper.