EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Brussels, 13.2.2026
SWD(2026) 55 final
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT
Monitoring Road Safety Progress in the EU - Romania
Accompanying the document
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
Report on the Implementation of the EU Road Safety Policy Framework at the Mid-Point
{COM(2026) 77 final} - {SWD(2026) 33 final} - {SWD(2026) 34 final} - {SWD(2026) 35 final} - {SWD(2026) 36 final} - {SWD(2026) 37 final} - {SWD(2026) 38 final} - {SWD(2026) 39 final} - {SWD(2026) 40 final} - {SWD(2026) 41 final} - {SWD(2026) 42 final} - {SWD(2026) 43 final} - {SWD(2026) 44 final} - {SWD(2026) 45 final} - {SWD(2026) 46 final} - {SWD(2026) 47 final} - {SWD(2026) 48 final} - {SWD(2026) 49 final} - {SWD(2026) 50 final} - {SWD(2026) 51 final} - {SWD(2026) 52 final} - {SWD(2026) 53 final} - {SWD(2026) 54 final} - {SWD(2026) 56 final} - {SWD(2026) 57 final} - {SWD(2026) 58 final} - {SWD(2026) 59 final}
Contents
1. Summary
2. Road Safety Strategy and Measures
2.1 Road Safety Strategy
2.2 Road Safety Governance
2.3 Main Safety Issues
2.4 Road Safety Targets
2.5 Road Safety Measures
3. Road Safety Progress
3.1 Road Safety Outcomes
3.2 Road Safety Performance Indicators
4. Monitoring Road Safety Strategy Implementation
4.1
Implementing progress
4.2
Best practices
4.3
Gaps
5. Conclusions and Recommendations
1. Summary
In 2024, Romania had the highest fatality rate in the EU, with 78 road fatalities per million inhabitants (the EU average is 45). Nonetheless, compared to 2019, a decrease of 21% in road fatalities was achieved. Compared to the EU average, the distribution of fatalities in Romania shows a relatively high proportion of pedestrian fatalities and fatalities on urban roads.
In the National Road Safety Strategy of Romania, targets of halving the numbers of road fatalities and serious injuries by 2030, compared to 2019, have been set. In addition, 103 road safety actions are included in the road safety action plan of the same period, which are grouped into five pillars.
Based on the latest available data for 2024, Romania appears to be almost on track to meet the 2030 target of halving road fatalities. With regards to serious injuries, Romania collects MAIS3+ data only from 2021 and, therefore, no comparison with the baseline can be made.
2. Road Safety Strategy and Measures
2.1 Road Safety Strategy
The National Road Safety Strategy for the period 2022-2030 was approved by the Romania Government and published in May 2022
, in accordance with the European Commission’s road safety policy 2021-2030, the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Safe System approach.
An Action Plan for the implementation of the National Road Safety Strategy for the period 2022-2030, which includes all the actions designed for the entire eight-year period is included in the Strategy.
Also, a national priority programme for the period 2022 - 2024 for the implementation of the Strategy has been defined. It includes the planned actions for the first three years, the nomination of the responsible entities and the necessary resources for its implementation
.
Table 24.1: National road safety strategy
|
|
Romania
|
|
Timeframe
|
2022-2030
|
|
Lead Authority
|
Interministerial Council for Road Safety (CISR)
|
|
Link
|
https://www.cisr.ro/files/upload-dir/14-strategia-nationala-siguranta-rutiera-2022-2030.pdf
|
Source: national sources
2.2 Road Safety Governance
The Interministerial Council for Road Safety is responsible for the formulation of the road safety strategy and the monitoring of road safety developments in the country.
The Interministerial Council for Road Safety is established as an advisory body to the Government, without legal personality. The members of the Interministerial Council for Road Safety are the representatives of the specialized institutions of the central public administration with responsibilities in the field of road safety.
The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, through the Directorate for Road Transport, promotes the road safety strategy for approval by the Government.
2.3 Main Safety Issues
According to the National Road Safety Strategy of Romania, and based on the crash statistics of 2019, the following main issues arise:
·The largest share of fatalities in Romania is represented by pedestrians (39%), while the respective EU share is 20%
·Between 2010 and 2019, the number of killed cyclists in road crashes increased by 19%.
·In 2019, Romania ranked last in the European Union, both in terms of the quality of road infrastructure and the number of km of highways per 100,000 inhabitants.
2.4 Road Safety Targets
The following general targets were set in the National Road Safety Strategy 2022-2030 of Romania, in accordance with the objectives of the European Union:
·By 2030, a 50% reduction in fatalities, compared to 2019.
·By 2030, a 50% reduction in serious injuries, compared to 2019.
2.5 Road Safety Measures
A total of 103 road safety actions divided in five road safety pillars are included in the National Road Safety Strategy for the period 2022-2030 of Romania
.
Table 24.2: Road safety activities of the action plan 2022-2030
|
Road Safety Pillar
|
Actions
|
|
1.Road safety management
|
8
|
|
2.Safe Road Use
|
55
|
|
3.Vehicle safety
|
7
|
|
4.Safe Infrastructure
|
25
|
|
5.Interventions in emergency situations
|
8
|
|
Total
|
103
|
3. Road Safety Progress
3.1 Road Safety Outcomes
In Romania, in 2023, 1,545 people were killed and 3,536 people were seriously injured in road crashes in 2023. Based on preliminary data for 2024, Romania ranked 27th in the EU in terms of mortality rates. In fact, 77 road fatalities per million inhabitants were recorded that year, which was well above the EU average (44).
Figure 24.1 Mortality rates by country, 2024
Sources: CARE database on road crashes; population data from Eurostat (online data code
demo_pjan
).
Compared with 2019, which is the baseline, the number of fatalities decreased by 21% in 2024. Thus, based on the latest available data, Romania appears to be broadly on track to meet the 2030 target of halving the number of road fatalities. Regarding serious injuries, from 2021, Romania collects MAIS3+ data and, therefore, no comparison with the baseline can be made.
Figure 24.2 Road crash fatalities and target 2030
(Source CARE database)
Compared to the EU average, the distribution of fatalities in Romania shows a relatively high proportion of pedestrian fatalities and a high proportion of fatalities on urban roads
. In fact, pedestrian fatalities account for 31% of all road fatalities in 2023 and fatalities inside urban areas account for 65%.
An overview of the evolution of road fatalities and serious injuries during the period 2019-2023 (year with the latest available data) is provided below for specific types of roads, crashes and road users. Overall, in Romania, road fatalities and serious injuries declined for almost all groups examined below, except fatalities in single vehicle crashes and among powered two-wheeler riders.
The largest fatality reduction was recorded for pedestrians (35%). The highest reductions in serious injuries were recorded outside urban areas (63%) and for passenger car occupants (61%).
Table 24.3: Evolution of road fatalities, 2019-2023
|
Fatalities
|
2019
|
2023
|
%
in 2023
|
% change
2019-2023
|
|
Total road fatalities
|
1,864
|
1,545
|
-
|
-17%
|
|
Inside urban areas
|
1,213
|
1,007
|
65%
|
-17%
|
|
Outside urban areas
|
608
|
502
|
32%
|
-17%
|
|
Motorways
|
43
|
36
|
2%
|
-16%
|
|
Single vehicle crashes
|
416
|
445
|
29%
|
+7%
|
|
Multi vehicle crashes
|
736
|
643
|
42%
|
-13%
|
|
Car occupants
|
682
|
677
|
44%
|
-1%
|
|
PTW riders
|
69
|
95
|
6%
|
+38%
|
|
Cyclists
|
198
|
160
|
10%
|
-19%
|
|
Pedestrians
|
729
|
472
|
31%
|
-35%
|
3.2 Road Safety Performance Indicators
Romania has one of the oldest passenger car fleets in the EU, with an average of 15 years.
Table 24.4: Road Safety Performance Indicators, 2022 or latest available year (Source: ERSO, Country Profiles)
|
|
Romania
|
EU
|
|
Speeding
% of passenger cars travelling within speed limits a, b
|
|
Motorways
|
-
|
-
|
|
Rural Roads
|
-
|
-
|
|
Urban Roads
|
-
|
|
|
Seat belt & CRS use rates (%) a,b, c
|
|
Front
|
65.6
|
93.1
|
|
Rear
|
42.2
|
75.3
|
|
Child restraint systems (roadside observations)
|
66.7
|
67.0
|
|
Child restraint systems (in-vehicle inspections)
|
63.0
|
-
|
|
Helmet use rates (%) a, b
|
|
PTW driver
|
95.3
|
97.0
|
|
PTW passenger
|
93.5
|
94.4
|
|
Cyclist
|
13.4
|
37.8
|
|
DUI of Alcohold -
(self-reported)
|
|
% of car drivers who have driven at least once in the last 30 days over the legal limit
|
-
|
11.8
|
|
Driver Distraction a, b
|
|
% of drivers not using hand-held mobile device/phone while driving
|
94.6
|
94.8
|
|
Vehicle Safety
|
|
|
|
% of new passenger cars rated with 4 EuroNCAP stars and above c
|
-
|
83.6
|
|
Average age of passenger car fleet (years)a, d
|
15.4
|
12.5
|
Sources: aTrendline proiect (2024), b Baseline project, c ETSC (2022), d ESRA3 project (2024), e ACEA (2025)
4. Monitoring Road Safety Strategy Implementation
This section is based on the self-assessment provided by the country. Since Romania did not provide a self-assessment, this section is left intentionally empty.
4.1
Implementing progress
4.2
Best practices
4.3
Gaps
5. Conclusions and Recommendations
In the national road safety strategy for the period 2022-2030 of Romania, targets of halving the numbers of road fatalities and serious injuries by 2030, compared to 2019, have been set. A total of 103 road safety actions grouped into five pillars are included in the road safety action plan for the same period.
In 2024, Romania, with 78 road fatalities per million inhabitants, was the country with the lowest road safety performance in the EU. Compared to the EU average, the distribution of fatalities in Romania shows a relatively high proportion of pedestrian fatalities and fatalities occurring on urban roads.
Among the contributing factors to the high road death rates are the poor state of the infrastructure, excessive speed and mixed traffic (several road user groups sharing the road). There is a lack of automatic speed enforcement and a legal framework for its establishment, operation and maintenance. Furthermore, traffic-calming measures and separate paths for vulnerable road users (e.g. sidewalks) are reportedly not sufficiently developed or even missing completely.
However, between 2019 and 2024, a decrease of 21% in road fatalities was recorded. Thus, Romania appears to be almost on track to meet the 2030 target of halving road fatalities. More action is needed to reduce the high number of fatalities and bridge the gap with the better performing countries in the EU. With regards to serious injuries, Romania collects MAIS3+ data from 2021 only and, therefore, no comparison with the baseline can be made.