The percentage of dead motorcyclists is particularly high in Greece (38%) compared to Europe, where the average is 18%. The percentage of dead motorcyclists in residential areas is even higher, as reaches 45% compared to 20% in the EU. The above percentages make the need to reduce speeds in residential areas to 30 km/h even more urgent. The percentage of motorcycle drivers who wear a helmet is 80% in Greece, when in Europe it is 97% and 65% for passengers, while in the E.U. is 95%. However, an important parameter is that in Greece there is a high percentage of motorcycle use compared to the EU.

69% of dead motorcycle and moped riders were not wearing or were not recorded as wearing a helmet (source: Baseline project – NTUA). The use of seat belts by the passengers in the rear seats I.X. is much lower (55.8%) compared to front-seat passengers (71%), while 79% of dead passenger vehicle drivers were not wearing a seat belt or their use was not recorded. The chance for a motorcycle driver, aged 18-24, to lose their life is more than 10 times greater than a passenger vehicle driver of the same age.

According to ELSTAT data and data processing by the Hellenic Transport Association, in 2023 approximately 20,400 people lost their lives in road accidents in the EU, a percentage that represents a slight decrease of 1% compared to 2022. In the period 2010- 2020, Greece recorded an impressive 54% reduction in road fatalities, achieving the target of a 50% reduction in fatalities, while road accidents fell by 39%. This impressive reduction can be attributed to the combined effect of more systematic policing initiatives, construction and upgrading of 2,200 km of highways, the deep economic recession, which brought new traffic data, and less aggressive driving behavior at lower speeds.

In the years 2021-2023 there is a relative stabilization in the absolute total numbers of accidents. However, it must be taken into account that in 2023, the number of trips and vehicle kilometers has increased compared to 2020. Last year, based on provisional data, in Greece the deaths due to traffic accidents reached 621, that is, the correspondence is 52 deaths per month.

Greece ranks 23rd among the 27 EU countries, with 60 deaths per million inhabitants compared to the EU average of 46. Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia and Croatia perform worse. The safest roads are still this year in Sweden and Denmark (22 and 27 deaths respectively per one million inhabitants). The permanent resident in Greece has a 0.5% chance (during his life expectancy) of losing his life in a road accident and a similar percentage of being seriously injured. The possibility of someone causing an accident with a dead or seriously injured person is also very important.

In the year 2020 there were 19.3 confirmed speeding offenses per 1,000 inhabitants in Greece compared to 139.7 confirmed speeding offenses per 1,000 inhabitants in Europe. The corresponding number of confirmed offenses for mobile phone use was 1.8 per 1,000 inhabitants in Greece and 4.4 per 1,000 inhabitants in Europe (source: ETSC 2022).