​Friday is the blackest day on the roads of our country, when the most serious traffic accidents occur, and on average, 13 serious traffic accidents occurred every day in 2021, in which 5 people died and 10 were seriously injured, according to the latest data of the Romanian police.

Figures published by the Romanian police in the Road Safety Bulletin 2021, cited by UNSAR (Union of Insurers of Romania), show that last year more than 770 serious accidents occurred on Fridays and 717 on Sundays. The other days of the week trend downward: 699 on Monday, 681 on Tuesday and 680 on Wednesday.

• SEE THE REPORT OF THE ROMANIAN POLICE HERE

On average, 410 serious traffic accidents occurred on public roads in Romania in each month of 2021, in which 148 people died and 316 were seriously injured. The months with the highest number of traffic accidents are traditional holidays (July, August). ).

The monthly dynamics of serious accidents reflects a decrease in their number in the first half of the year, while starting from May, there is an increase in them, until August – as a result of increased mobility in warming conditions. weather, followed by a decrease until November.

The main reasons contributing to the occurrence of traffic accidents in a serious condition are the inconsistency of the speed of traffic with the road conditions and irregular crossing by pedestrians. Most serious road accidents occur in rural areas.

Romania remains in the first place in the EU in terms of the number of deaths in road accidents

Unfortunately, Romania still ranks first in the EU in the number of deaths caused by road accidents each year, and the Romanian government has created a National Road Safety Strategy, which the insurance industry wants to support.

At the local level, 93 such deaths per one million inhabitants were recorded in 2021, which is twice the European average.

On the other hand, in the European Union, road safety has improved significantly in recent decades, with the death rate due to road accidents decreasing in the last 10 years. If we turn to the world context, the European Union has one of the safest roads in the world, with 44 deaths per million inhabitants.

In addition, Romania is among the countries with the oldest fleet with an average age of 16.4 years in 2021, compared to the European average of 11.5 years. And the aging of the car fleet increases from year to year.

The frequency of lawsuits and compensation paid to victims drives up RCA prices

UNSAR member insurers point out that all these accidents are also economically reflected in the compensations paid to the victims.

• “In addition to the profound human suffering caused by these accidents, all these accidents are also reflected economically in the compensations paid to victims by RCA insurers, both for material and non-pecuniary damages.
• In addition, the frequency of RCA claims in Romania remains one of the highest at the European level. The insurance industry in Romania paid out around €2 million in compensation every calendar day last year on RCA claims alone, almost double the amount in 2016.” This is stated in the UNSAR press release.

An increase in the frequency of claims and compensations paid to victims of road accidents are the main explanations that insurance companies give for increasing RCA prices.

Of the nearly 9.7 million registered vehicles, only 6.7 million had RCAs

Figures from the Romanian police show that at the end of last year, the number of people with driving licenses was 8,298,956, which is 43% of the country’s total population and 53% of the adult population. Almost every second adult has a driver’s license.

More than a third of young people under the age of 21 have a driver’s license.

At the end of 2021, the car fleet in Romania had 9,661,483 registered vehicles. Of them, 7,611,039 (78.7%) were represented by passenger cars.

Compared to 2020, the number of registered cars increased by 336,311 units (by 4.6%).

They were valid at the end of 2021 6,710,462 RCA contractsof them, 5,282,809 were concluded with natural persons, and 1,427,653 with legal entities.

The total amount of gross compensation paid in 2021 by insurance companies authorized and controlled by the FSA was 3,548,644,363 lei.