Cyclist Deaths Barely Declining Across EU as Car Occupant Fatalities Fall Four Times Faster
New EU report finds cyclist deaths have fallen at just 0.5% annually over the past decade, as Ireland's RSA calls for lower speeds and safer infrastructure.
A landmark report published this week by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has found that cyclist deaths across the European Union have barely declined over the past decade, even as fatalities among car occupants fell at four times the rate. The findings are a stark warning for governments across the continent, including Ireland, where the picture on cyclist safety is mixed despite a relatively low fatality rate.
In 2024, 1,926 cyclists were killed on EU roads. Over the decade from 2014 to 2024, cyclist deaths fell by just 8%, an average annual reduction of only 0.5%, compared to a 2% annual reduction for motorised road users. To meet the EU's 2030 target of halving road deaths, an annual reduction of 6.5% would be required, thirteen times the current rate of progress for cyclists. Cyclists now account for 10% of all road deaths in the EU.
Ireland's position in the EU picture
Ireland has a relatively low cyclist mortality rate compared to many EU countries. Based on the average for 2022 to 2024, fewer than two cyclist deaths per million inhabitants were recorded annually in Ireland, compared to 15 deaths per million in the Netherlands and around eight in Belgium and Romania.
The picture on serious injuries is mixed. While police data recorded an increase in serious injuries among cyclists over the full period 2014 to 2024, there was a 21% decrease in serious injuries over the more recent five-year period 2020 to 2024. However, hospital records tell a different story: they show between two and three times more seriously injured cyclists than police-based data for the years 2014 to 2022, and around nine times more collisions involving no other vehicle. Cyclist hospitalisations doubled in 2022 relative to 2014, and the number of collisions involving no other vehicle increased consistently up to 2023.
The ETSC report notes that serious injuries are widely underreported in police records across Europe, with fewer than 10% of injured cyclists appearing in police statistics in some countries.
Motor vehicles and infrastructure
Across the EU, 65% of cyclist deaths result from collisions with motor vehicles, with passenger cars accounting for 44% of all cyclist fatalities. Heavy goods vehicles and vans contribute a further 9% and 7% respectively. At least 28% of cyclist deaths involve no other vehicle, such as falls or collisions with kerbs or stationary objects. In Ireland specifically, collisions involving no other vehicle are the leading cause of serious injuries among cyclists admitted to hospital.
Jenny Carson, co-author of the report, said:
"Governments are actively encouraging more people to cycle – for the climate, to reduce fossil-fuel use and congestion, for public health, for our cities. But they are not providing the safe conditions that cyclists need and deserve. You cannot ask people to cycle and then fail to protect them from fast-moving traffic."
RSA calls for action
Michael Rowland, Director of Research, Standards and Assurance at the Road Safety Authority (RSA), said:
"Ireland's cyclist fatality rate is relatively low compared to other European countries, however, every loss of life on our roads is a tragedy. The rise in serious injuries on our roads is also a significant concern. We need to act decisively to make our roads safer for cyclists. This means lower speeds in urban areas, better enforcement, and sustained investment in high-quality, segregated cycling infrastructure. Encouraging people to cycle must go hand in hand with ensuring they can do so safely."
What the ETSC is calling for
The ETSC is urging governments to introduce and enforce 30 km/h speed limits in urban areas where cyclists and motor vehicles share space, noting that the risk of death for a cyclist struck at 50 km/h is many times higher than at 30 km/h. The council is also calling for substantial investment in separated cycling infrastructure, including protected lanes, dedicated cycle paths, and safer junction design, as well as smoother, wider, and obstacle-free surfaces to reduce single-bicycle crashes.
Additional findings from the report include that older cyclists are disproportionately at risk, with mortality rates rising sharply among those aged over 80; men account for 80% of cyclist deaths; and deaths among e-bike users are increasing in countries that distinguish between bicycle types. The ETSC also notes that helmets can reduce head injuries by 51% and fatal head injuries by 72%.
The full report is available at www.etsc.eu/pinflash50.