Romania still ranks first in the number of road accidents in Europe compared to a million inhabitants.

In 2021, 26,806 road accidents occurred on public roads in Romania. Of them, 4,915 road accidents with a severe degree of severity (18.3%), events that led to the death of 1,779 people, serious injuries to 3,790 people, and 2,235 people to minor injuries. At the same time, according to the Romanian police report, 21,891 registered minor accidents14 resulted in minor injuries to 27,209 people.

The month of the biggest accidents

On average, 410 serious traffic accidents occurred on public roads in Romania every month in 2021, in which 148 people died and 316 people were seriously injured.

Starting from May, with the warming of the weather, the number of serious traffic accidents increases gradually every month (an average of 13.1 traffic accidents/day), reaching values ​​in the traditional holiday months (July, August). maximum. In August, the number of road accidents reaches an annual peak of 508 (the average daily rate in August is higher than other months – 16.4 road accidents/day). According to the report of the Romanian police, starting from September and ending in November, the monthly number of traffic accidents starts to decrease.

The day when the most serious accidents occur

The general week of 2021 is characterized by an increase in the frequency of serious road accidents until Friday, reaching then the maximum registered value. A decrease in the frequency of such events is noted on Saturday, and an increase in the number of serious road accidents is recorded again on Sunday.

In the rest of the days of the week, the tendency is to decrease.

The time when most serious accidents occur

According to the analysis of the Romanian police, the change in the number of serious road accidents within 24 hours is influenced by the rhythm of daily activities, the time when people go to work or return from work, school, etc. and peak traffic hours are the times when most serious traffic accidents occur.

Thus, between 5-6 a.m., the number of serious road accidents increases significantly, about 2 times higher than an hour ago, followed by an interval (6-10 a.m.) in which the number of road accidents remains relatively constant. for a new significant increase between 10-12 hours, ending with an almost 7-fold increase in the 11-12 hour interval compared to the 4-5 hour interval.

The maximum indicators of the day were recorded between 17-18, when 387 serious road accidents occurred.

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Dynamics of road accidents in 2021

• In 2021, there were 4,915 serious traffic accidents on public roads in Romania, traffic accidents that caused the death of 1,779 people, serious injuries to 3,790 people and minor injuries to another 2,235 people.
• On average, 13 serious traffic accidents occurred every day in 2021, in which 5 people died and 10 were seriously injured.
• In 2021, Romania had 93 deaths per one million inhabitants.
• Compared to 2020, there were 1,356 fewer road accidents in 2021 (-21.6%), while the number of fatalities in such events was higher (+133, +8.1%), and the number of seriously injured people continued to decrease, by 1,692 cases less (-30.9%).
• Mortality index 1 increased from 26.2% in 2020 to 36.2% in 2021.
• Compared to the environment of their production, in 2021 the most serious traffic accidents were recorded in rural areas, 1,915 events, 39% of the total annual number.
• Rural areas recorded a mortality index of 37.2%, while urban environments had a mortality index of 22.3% in 2021. At the same time, although less numerous, serious traffic accidents occurring on the roads outside the population centers register the highest level. mortality (54.7%).
• In 2021, there were 16.1% fewer road accidents with serious injuries compared to the previous year (235 fewer road accidents), but there were 99 more deaths and 378 more people with serious injuries outside the city in 2021.
• Compared to previous years, the distribution of serious road accidents by categories of roads on which they occurred will undergo minor changes in 2021. Thus, national roads represent the road sector where the most serious road accidents occurred (35.7% of all serious road accidents). ). The street is the second category in terms of the number of traffic accidents that occurred on this section of roads (35.1%).
• As for victims, 49.3% of the total number of people who died in road accidents in 2021 died on public roads, which is more than 2 times more than road accidents that happened on the street, the situation is similar to the previous year national a road included in the category of roads with the highest victimization potential. Although they have the second highest number of 1 fatality index = number of people killed compared to the number of serious road accidents x 100 11 serious road accidents, street events have the lowest fatality index.
• As in previous years, intersections and curves represent the infrastructure elements with the highest risk potential on the road. In 2021, 299 people were killed and 619 people were seriously injured in road accidents at bends, and 176 people were killed and 678 were seriously injured in road accidents at intersections. In addition, two-thirds of serious road accidents occurred on sections of roads without features.
• It is possible to observe the seriousness of traffic accidents caused by non-observance of the rules of passage of railway crossings: in 18 events of this nature, 16 people died, which increased the value of the fatality index to 88.9%.
• 88.2% of serious road accidents occurred under normal weather conditions. Serious traffic accidents caused by special weather conditions, although less numerous, have a higher level of victimization (people killed and seriously injured in road accidents), highlighting the impact of weather factors on road safety.
• Depending on the type of collision, approximately one-third (32.4%) of serious traffic accidents registered in 2021 are events in which pedestrians were seriously injured (1,594 traffic accidents). Compared to last year, there is a slight decrease, in 2021 there were 315 fewer such events (-16.5%).
• Side collisions are the second most frequent category (13.3% of the total number of serious road accidents, down 25.6% compared to last year), followed by head-on collisions (12.3% of the total number of serious road accidents, down from 2020). by 7.9%) and hitting an obstacle outside the roadway (9.8% of all serious road accidents, 16.6% less than last year).
• As in 2020, the monthly dynamics of serious road accidents in 2021 shows a decrease in their number in the first half of the year. Starting from May, there is an increase in the number of serious road accidents until August 2021, which occurred after warming, with a further decrease until November.
• The general week of 2021 is characterized by an increase in the frequency of serious traffic accidents until Friday, then reaching the maximum recorded value, after which there is a decrease in the frequency of such events on Saturday, and an increase is recorded again on Sunday. in the number of serious road accidents. In the rest of the days of the week, the tendency is to decrease.
• If we compare the number of fatalities with the number of serious road accidents, we conclude that 2021 was characterized by a high mortality index on all days of the week, this aspect was also observed in 2020.
• Analyzing the hourly dynamics of serious road accidents, we notice that between 5-6 a.m. the number of serious road accidents increases significantly, the value is fixed at about 2 times more than an hour ago, then the interval (06-10 ) in which the number of accidents remains relatively constant for a new significant increase between 10-12 hours, achieving that in the interval of 11-12 hours an increase of almost 7 times is registered compared to the 4-5 hour interval.
• Traffic accidents occurring in the interval 04-05 are characterized by higher mortality, which indicates that in conditions of less intensive traffic, road behavior may become more reckless, which implies higher risks of victimization.
• Failure to adjust speed to road conditions and irregular crossing by pedestrians remain the two most frequent causes of serious road accidents in 2021. Reasons in order of frequency of occurrence: failure to yield to pedestrians, deviation by cyclists and failure to yield to vehicles.
• Compared to 2020, the cause of “failure to give way to pedestrians” is ranked third in the ranking of the main causes of road accidents instead of the cause of “violation of cyclists”, in 2021 there were 137 fewer road accidents (-22.6%). Violation of the rules by cyclists caused 304 fewer road accidents this year (-41%), and failure to give priority to vehicles caused 108 fewer road accidents than in 2020 (-20.9%).
• In 61.2% of serious traffic accidents that occurred in 2021, the driver of the car is fully or partially to blame. The participation of women drivers in serious road accidents was 6.6 times lower than that of men. Also, 6.7 times less women were involved in serious road accidents.
• As in 2020, in 2021 pedestrians were the most affected. Thus, pedestrians account for 32.8% of all fatalities in serious traffic accidents in 2021. These figures confirm the 13th degree of high vulnerability of pedestrians, as well as the level of their indiscipline on the road. The largest number of victims among the dead was registered in the age group over 72 years old, almost twice as many victims as in the second most representative age group (61-66 years). Pedestrians account for 51.3% of people killed in street accidents, 28.6% in those on DN and 30% in events on DJ.
• The age distribution of cyclists injured in road accidents in 2021, as in 2020, shows that the most injured cyclists are people aged 61 to 66.
• Regarding the number of serious traffic accidents caused by violations by cyclists, the higher degree of compliance with traffic rules is confirmed by those occurring in cities: 157 traffic accidents occurred due to violations by cyclists in the urban environment against 233 in the city. countryside.
• Drivers aged 31 to 36 accounted for the most deaths in road accidents in 2021 of drivers of two-wheeled motorized vehicles