The new figures published by the European Commission show that road fatalities across the EU decreased by 9% in 2012, reaching the lowest level since the first data were collected.

Vice-president Siim Kallas, commissioner for transport, said: ‘2012 was a landmark year for European road safety, with the lowest ever number of road deaths recorded. A 9% decrease means that 3,000 lives were saved last year. It is hugely encouraging to see these kinds of results. Still 75 people die on Europe's roads every day, so there is no room for complacency. We have ambitious goals to cut EU road deaths in half by 2020 and we need to keep up this momentum to get there.

‘Road deaths are only the tip of the iceberg. For every death on Europe's roads there are 10 serious injuries such as damage to the brain or spinal cord. We need a strategy to bring down the number of serious road injuries everywhere in the EU.’

The Commission added that a key factor contributing to success in tackling road fatalities has been the results-based approach adopted in two consecutive 10-year EU road safety strategies, and said that much could be gained by applying a similar focus to serious but non-fatal road injuries.

In line with this it has published a document on serious road traffic injuries outlining the next steps towards a comprehensive EU strategy on serious road injuries. This includes a common definition of serious road traffic injury (applicable from 2013) as well as a way forward for Member States to improve data collection on serious road accidents and the principle of adopting an EU-level target for the reduction of serious road traffic injuries.

The announcement of a common EU-wide definition for road traffic serious injuries has been greeted by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), with Antonio Avenoso, ETSC executive director, commenting that this ‘will greatly enhance the comparability of national developments in this area, which will come to complement actions taken to reduce the number of road deaths’.

He added: ‘We hope that Member States will be able to adapt their data collection and reporting procedures in order to provide high- quality data in accordance with the common [serious injury] definition as soon as possible.

‘The common definition is the first step in tackling the unacceptably high number of serious injuries on EU roads. We know that speed, alcohol and drugs and failure to wear a seatbelt are the three main killers on the roads. But these risk factors do not only kill, they also injure, impair and maim.’

However he added that progress in reducing serious injuries on the roads has been slower than the corresponding figure for road deaths, commenting: ‘The EU target for reducing the number of road deaths served as a strong catalyst for progress. Moreover, in their responses to the 2010 Road Safety Policy Orientations, both the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament called for a target on serious injuries.

‘We strongly believe the European Commission must come forward with an EU reduction target for serious injuries. A 35% reduction in the number of road traffic serious injuries over the period 2014-20206 would be both challenging and achievable for the Member States.’