The results for this year’s European Day Without A Road Death (Project EDWARD) this year, run on the Thursday 21 September, show a reduction in deaths.

Project EDWARD – European Day Without A Road Death

There were 43 road deaths across 31 countries, whereas the average is 70 deaths each day, on Europe’s roads according to the Project. The number of countries with zero fatalities was 16, including the United Kingdom.

The event is being hailed a success, as the Twitter hashtag #ProjectEDWARD trended number 1 in Ireland, number 4 in the UK and number 5 in Germany and other countries on 21 September – a record for a road safety event, according to TISPOL. The project reached a total of 25 million individuals, compared to 2016’s 19.5 million between Tuesday 19 to Thursday 21 September.

Project EDWARD was devised by the European Traffic Police Network (TISPOL) and first run in 2016. The project aims to raise awareness of road safety and reduce the number of people killed daily.

EU Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc commented: “In this second edition of the European Day Without a Road Death, we recorded again a significant improvement compared with 2015. This shows that awareness and education, together with effective enforcement of traffic rules, make our roads a much safer place. When all stakeholders come together we can really make an impact and save lives.”