With many motorists planning where they will go to on holiday this year, the travel company Vignetteswitzerland.com has shared the safest and most dangerous locations to drive across Europe.
Whilst it is often quicker to take a flight to a foreign destination, some tourists like to bring along their car to save money or rent a vehicle to get to far away attractions.
However, M. E.Wijnmalen, CEO of Vignetteswitzerland.com, warned that drivers thinking of getting behind the wheel abroad should always check the road conditions first to avoid fines and accidents.
They advised: “With how connected Europe is, and how easy it is to travel from one country into another, it’s important to keep knowledge of the driving conditions in each country you travel to.
“Many factors can affect these conditions, such as road quality, driving laws or even changes in speed limits that can influence the risk you run of simply just being on the road.”
Using data from the European Transport Safety Council on road casualties and fatalities, Vignetteswitzerland.com found that Norway has the safest roads in Europe.
According to the company, there were 21.38 deaths on the road per million inhabitants during 2022, a fall of 26.48 percent in ten years.
Despite its cold climates, Scandinavia in general has particularly good roads and safe drivers, with Sweden coming second, Denmark fourth and Finland eighth on the list.
Top ten countries in Europe with the safest roads (deaths per million in 2022):
- Norway – 21.38
- Sweden – 21.72
- United Kingdom – 25.89
- Denmark – 26.22
- Switzerland – 27.58
- Republic of Ireland – 30.83
- Germany – 33.35
- Finland – 34.43
- Israel – 36.61
- Spain – 37.08
However, whilst many popular tourist destinations have particularly safe roads, Vignettesweden.com warned that drivers visiting some countries in Europe should be careful behind the wheel.
According to the data, Romania has the continent’s most dangerous roads, with 85.81 road deaths recorded per million inhabitants during 2022.
Other Eastern European countries, including Bulgaria, Latvia and Poland also had high figures, as did destinations in Southern Europe, such as Portugal and Greece.
