During 2014, on the basis of a preliminary estimate, 174,400 road accidents resulting in death or injury were counted. The number of deaths within thirty days is 3,330, while the injured persons are 248,200.
Compared to 2013, a decrease of road accidents resulting in death or injury (-3.77%) and the number of deaths (-1.62%), a decrease of injuries has been registered too (-3.58%).
The mortality index, calculated as the percentage ratio between the number of deaths and the number of accidents resulting in death or injury, reaches, in 2014, the value 1.91. This value is slightly higher than the same index in 2013 (1,87).
The percentage change of the number of deaths for 2014 is -53.1% (compared to 2001). Between 2013 and 2014 the variation is equal to -1.6%, while between 2010 and 2014 it is -19.1%. The limited decrease in the number of victims in the last year is in line with the trend in European average.
The most significant contribution to the decrease in the number of victims in road accidents is due, in 2014, to the decline of mortality on highways (-11.5%). The decrease is lower on urban (-1.0%) and extra urban roads (-0.3%).
For the year 2014, according to preliminary estimates, it would occur 3.06 victims per 100 accidents on motorways and 4.78 on extra urban roads. The mortality rate decreases to 1.08 for urban roads and minor extra urban roads.
The European program of Actions for Road Safety 2011-2020 has the target of halving the number of road deaths by 2020 and to reduce serious injuries, according to the harmonized definition of severity of injury, internationally established, that the EU countries agreed to implement.
With reference to the international context, the preliminary estimates of mortality rates, calculated as the ratio between the number of deaths in road accidents and the resident population (rates per 1,000,000 inhabitants), recorded in 2014 among the countries of the Eu28, vary in a range from 26 for Malta, 28 for Sweden and 106 and 91 respectively for Latvia and Romania. The value for Italy is equal to 55, compared with a European average of 51 deaths per million inhabitants.
The average percentage change in Europe (Eu28) of the number of deaths in road accidents, between 2013 and 2014, amounts to -0.6%. Between 2010 and 2014, this variation, among Eu28 Countries, is equal to -18.2%.