In Greece, 80% of drivers wear helmets, while in Europe, it is 97%. The high percentage of motorcycle use in Greece is an important parameter when analysing the data.
The percentage of dead motorcyclists is particularly high in Greece (38%) compared to Europe, where the average is 18%. The percentage of motorcyclists killed in residential areas is even higher, reaching 45% compared to 20% in the EU. The above percentages make reducing speeds in residential areas to 30km/h even more imperative.
The percentage of motorcycle drivers in Greece who wear a helmet is 80%, and among passengers, it is 65%, while in Europe, it is 97% and 95%, respectively.
An important parameter to note is that motorcycle use is higher in Greece than in the EU.
Sixty-nine percent of dead motorcycle and moped drivers did not wear or were not recorded as wearing a helmet (source: Baseline project—NTUA).
Passengers in the rear seat of vehicles use seat belts much less (55.8%) than front-seat passengers (71%), while 79% of dead passenger vehicle drivers were not wearing a seat belt or their use was not recorded.
The chance for a motorcycle driver, aged 18-24, to lose their life is more than ten times greater than a passenger vehicle driver of the same age.
According to data by ELSTAT and the Hellenic Transport Association, in 2023, approximately 20,400 people lost their lives in road accidents in the EU, a percentage that represents a slight decrease of 1% compared to 2022.
In the period 2010-2020, Greece recorded an impressive 54% reduction in the number of road deaths, achieving the target of a 50% reduction, while road accidents fell by 39%. This impressive reduction can be attributed to the combined effect of more systematic policing initiatives, constructing and upgrading 2,200 km of highways, the deep economic recession, less aggressive driving behaviour, and lower speeds.
In 2021-2023, the total number of accidents has stabilised relative to 2020. However, the number of trips and vehicle kilometres has increased in 2023. Last year, based on provisional data, in Greece, the number of deaths due to traffic accidents reached 621, or about 52 deaths per month.
Greece ranks 23rd among the 27 EU countries, with 60 deaths per million inhabitants compared to the EU average of 46. Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia and Croatia perform worse.
This year, Sweden and Denmark still have the safest roads (22 and 27 deaths per one million inhabitants).
A permanent resident in Greece has a 0.5% chance (during his life expectancy) of losing his life in a road accident and a similar percentage of being seriously injured. The possibility of someone causing an accident with a dead or seriously injured person is also very important.
In 2020, there were 19.3 confirmed speeding offences per 1,000 inhabitants in Greece compared to 139.7 confirmed speeding offences per 1,000 inhabitants in Europe. The corresponding number of confirmed offences for mobile phone use was 1.8 per 1,000 inhabitants in Greece and 4.4 per 1,000 inhabitants in Europe.
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