The holiday season is approaching – and with it many use the car. The Verkehrsclub Österreich (VCÖ) has looked at the risk of accidents in popular holiday destinations. In Italy, Croatia and Greece, as well as in neighboring Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, it is higher than in Austria. The roads in Scandinavia, on the other hand, are safer.
The VCÖ also pointed out that in a number of EU countries the speed limit on open roads is lower than in Austria. In every third EU country, the speed limit on motorways is lower than in Austria, as is the alcohol limit. After Italy, Croatia is the most popular summer holiday destination for Austrians. With 71 road fatalities per million inhabitants, Croatia had significantly more fatalities than Austria with 41, according to the VCÖ analysis based on Eurostat data. Within the EU, only Bulgaria and Romania had a higher number of road deaths per million inhabitants than Croatia.
In the most popular travel destination – Italy – the number of road fatalities last year was 53 per million people, higher than in Austria, as well as in Greece with 58 and in the neighboring countries Hungary (56), the Czech Republic (50) and Slovakia (46) the VCÖ. The fewest road deaths per million inhabitants, namely 21, occurred in Sweden last year. “Sweden has been following the ‘Vision Zero’ principle in road safety for more than 20 years. The aim is to design the transport system in such a way that human error does not lead to serious or even fatal injuries,” explains VCÖ expert Lina Mosshammer. The speed limits are lower accordingly, the maximum speed is 70 km/h on open country roads and 110 km/h u on highways The alcohol limit is not 0.5 promille as in Austria, but 0.2 promille.
Switzerland is the safest neighboring country
In Norway, Iceland, Denmark and Switzerland, road traffic killed less than 30 people per million inhabitants last year. Compared to Austria’s neighboring countries, Switzerland has the highest level of road safety with 28 road deaths per million inhabitants. In the Confederation, the speed limit on highways is 120 km/h and on country roads 80 km/h. Unlike Austria, the tolerance limit when exceeding the speed limit is very low, according to information from the VCÖ. There is a lot of traffic in the area and the fact that Switzerland is the most traveled by train per capita in Europe has a positive effect on road safety.
Obey the speed limits and alcohol limits
When driving abroad, the mobility club advised to observe different speed limits. In Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and Cyprus the speed limit is 80 km/h on all public roads and in many other countries it is 90 km/h. In some countries, including Sweden, the speed limit on motorways is also lower (110 km/h). h) and Norway (110 km/h 100) as well as in Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Portugal, Switzerland and Spain, where a maximum speed of 120 km/h is allowed. “In the Netherlands, the speed limit on highways is 100 during the day. And in Spain, the speed limit in urban areas is 30 on all roads with one lane in each direction, and 20 on roads with one lane,” recalls the VCÖ. expert. The alcohol limit is 0.2 promille in Sweden, Norway, Estonia and Poland, and 0.0 promille in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Romania.
Source: Krone
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