BUCHAREST, June 16 (Xinhua) -- European Commissioner for Transport Adina Valean on Tuesday called on Romania to improve the road infrastructure, so as to change the current status of being placed last in the road safety rankings of the European Union (EU).
"Romania is the worst at the moment, but it is not the first year... it has been the worst in terms of road accidents with fatalities, 96 versus 51, the European average of deaths per 1 million inhabitants," the official, an Romanian, said in an interview with TVR, the Romanian state television station.
According to the preliminary figures published last week by the European Commission, Romania, Bulgaria (89 deaths/million inhabitants) and Poland (77/million) reported the highest fatality rates in 2019, while on the other side, Sweden (22/million) and Ireland (29/million) were the EU member states with the best road safety scores.
In the case of Romania, most accidents are in urban areas, with pedestrians and cyclists being the vulnerable population, said the commissioner, underlining that all urban infrastructure must be adapted and local authorities must take measures to increase the safety of pedestrians and cyclists.
According to Valean, the EU has set a new target of road safety for the coming decade -- a 50-percent reduction for deaths and serious injuries by 2030. Enditem
