The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has called on Brussels to take action on work-related road safety as it warns of widespread failures to prevent road deaths.

Work-related road deaths account for between 30 and 40% of all road deaths in major European markets

A major new report by the ETSC reveals that thousands are killed every year in collisions linked to work activities or commuting – yet it says that governments and EU institutions still lack even a basic common definition of what constitutes a work-related road collision.

The report, titled Tapping the Potential for Reducing Work-Related Road Deaths and Injuries, reveals that at least 2,922 people died in work-related incidents annually in the EU between 2020 and 2022, and 43% of all such deaths occurred in the transport sector, including road transport.

Data from 16 European countries shows that work-related road deaths account for between 30 and 40% of all road deaths – but the ETSC says official numbers are distorted by inconsistent reporting, missing data and incompatible national definitions. In France, work-related road deaths represent 42% of all road deaths; in Ireland 29%, Italy 16%, Germany 10% with one country reporting just 2%.

Despite this, 10 countries still have no national definition of a work-related road collision, and fewer than half record the purpose of a journey in police crash reports. In most EU countries, police data, employer reporting and occupational safety systems remain completely disconnected and the ETSC said the “fragmented and underestimated picture… obscures the true scale of the problem”.

Antonio Avenoso, executive director, warned that work-related road deaths represent a “systemic failure that Europe continues to ignore”.

“Professional drivers, riders, commuters and the public are dying because employers, national governments and the EU treat road risk at work as someone else’s problem. It is time for political leadership.”

The report shows that work-related road deaths span professional drivers, workers on or near the road, professional travellers, commuters and third parties – meaning anyone can be a victim of their own, or someone else’s work-related risk. Professional drivers face pressure from long hours, fatigue and time constraints. Commuting remains one of the most dangerous parts of the working day in Europe. Yet employers’ responsibilities vary dramatically across countries, and legal obligations often do not explicitly cover driving for work.

The ETSC also reported that the lack of harmonised data makes meaningful prevention much more difficult. Among the European countries covered by the report, 20 have a definition for a work-related road collision; 10 do not. Only 13 countries include journey purpose in police reports.

It also warns that employer reporting obligations are inconsistent and often exclude self-employed workers and third parties. And data sources – police, Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) authorities, insurers, coroners – are not linked, leaving large gaps in understanding causes and solutions.

ETSC is calling for immediate action from the European Commission, the European Parliament, Member States and public authorities. It wants action at an EU level that includes the adoption of a common EU definition of work-related road collisions covering professional drivers, workers on the road, commuters and third parties.

The ETSC also called for an extension to the EU’s Common Accident Data Set to cover journey purpose for all road users, including pedestrians and cyclists.

And it wants EU institutions mandated to implement work-related road safety management programmes and procure only Euro NCAP 5-star vehicles across all fleets.

Other calls include bans on the use of all mobile phones while driving, especially work-related use and the inclusion of ‘safe workers’ under the social clause of EU public procurement legislation, so that reducing road risk becomes a recognised requirement in public procurement in the 2026 review.

The organisation also called for strengthened data reporting to the EU’s CARE database and Eurostat to enable systematic monitoring.

ETSC also called for action at a national level, including work to introduce a national definition and collect annual data on work-related road deaths and serious injuries.

“Roads are workplaces. Employers and governments must treat them as such,” added Avenoso. “If the EU is serious about eliminating road deaths, it cannot ignore the thousands of people killed every year simply because they were doing their job or getting to it.”

The ETSC report on Tapping the Potential for Reducing Work-Related Road Deaths and Injuries is online here.