Driving can be a pretty overwhelming experience as it is. Having to keep your eyes on the road non-stop can often leave you feeling drained.
But have you ever driven abroad? Well, a new study has revealed the most dangerous countries to drive in Europe.
Swiss vignette site Vignetteswitzerland.com analysed the latest data on road deaths from the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) to see which European countries had the highest rate of road deaths per million inhabitants in 2023.
They found Bulgaria had the highest rate of road deaths in Europe, with 81.6 deaths per million residents, 78 percent above the EU 27 average. Overall, there were 526 deaths on Bulgaria’s roads in 2023.
Romania is second for road deaths per million residents, with 81.1, 78 percent above the EU27 average. A total of 1,545 road deaths were recorded in 2023.
Serbia is third, with 75.7 road deaths per million, 65 percent above the average. In total, 503 deaths occurred on its roads in 2023. Latvia is fourth, with 75.4 road deaths per million residents, 66 percent above the EU27 average.
Rounding up the top five was Croatia which had the fifth highest rate of road deaths per million in Europe, with 71.2, 56 percent higher than the average for EU countries.
Portugal is sixth, with 60.2 deaths per million inhabitants, 32 percent above the EU27 average.
Greece is seventh, with 59.6 road deaths per million, and Lithuania is eighth, with 56. These are 31 percent and 23 percent above the EU27 average, respectively.
Italy and Poland complete the top 10 in ninth and tenth, respectively. Italy recorded 52.4 road fatalities per million, and Poland 51.5.
Poland was the closest country in Europe to meet its 2013 target of halving its road deaths by 2023, achieving a 44 percent reduction in road deaths in this time.
Norway had the lowest rate of road deaths in Europe, with only 20 deaths per million, less than half the EU27 average of 45.5. Norway also had Europe’s third-best reduction in road deaths since 2013, lowering road deaths by 41 percent.