Almost 20,000 people lost their lives in road accidents in the EU in 2021, with pedestrians, cyclists and moped riders accounting for over 32% of those fatalities, European Commission data show.
In urban areas, EU figures from 2020 paint an even grimmer picture for vulnerable users: some 52% of all traffic-related deaths in cities involved people on a bike, on foot or a moped. Among those three categories, most deaths resulted from collisions with cars.
With pedestrians and two-wheel users at the heart of sustainable mobility strategies, the figures emphasise the need to ramp up traffic safety efforts.
Only roads where people can securely hop on their bikes and walk in the streets will convince more and more users to embrace active modes of transport such as walking and cycling.
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