Downward trend: how the number of deaths and injuries in road accidents is changing in Russia

The traffic police of Russia summed up the statistical results for 2021 in terms of road accidents.

According to the department, in 133.3 thousand accidents (we are talking about accidents in which there were dead or injured. -

) a total of 14,874 people died, another 167,856 were injured.

The long-established trend towards a steady decrease in the accident rate from year to year in the country has continued: all three indicators were lower than in 2020.

Then, 16,152 people died in road accidents, and the number of victims exceeded 183,000.

Thus, it can be noted that in 2021, about 1,300 people managed to save the lives, including thanks to the efforts of the State Traffic Inspectorate.

Last year, this figure compared to 2019 was more than 800 people.

drunkenness on the roads

One of the most important and visible statistics of accidents is the number of accidents involving drunk drivers.

Against the backdrop of a number of legislative initiatives aimed at tougher penalties for this category of violators, the number of such accidents has also been declining in recent years.

Nevertheless, the final figures for the year are still very significant.

So, in 2021, more than 15.7 thousand serious accidents involving drunk drivers and those who refused medical examinations occurred on the roads of the country, 3,874 people died in them and another 20,852 were injured.

Thus, despite the fact that this category accounts for just over 10% of the total number of serious road accidents, more than 25% of all road traffic victims die in drunken accidents.

At the same time, even such terrible figures turned out to be significantly lower than a year earlier.

In 2020, more than 4.5 thousand people died in traffic accidents with drunk drivers in Russia and almost 25.5 thousand more were injured.

Children and pedestrians

In 2021, there were nearly 20,000 serious accidents involving children, in which 762 children died and almost 22,000 more were injured.

The traffic police of Russia in its work makes one of the main focuses on the prevention of road safety among minors.

In recent years, this has given a tangible result in reducing indicators, but last year it was not possible to significantly improve statistics in this area.

The overall number of serious accidents involving children and the number of injured minors in them has decreased, but not too much, and the death toll is three more than in 2020.

A quarter of all those killed on the country's roads are pedestrians.

In 2021, 3.9 thousand people died, more than 34.5 thousand were injured.

This category of road users in the traffic police also pay increased attention.

During the year, a noticeable decrease in the number of pedestrian deaths was achieved: in 2020 there were over 4.5 thousand of them, that is, more than 600 people were saved.

The number of injured pedestrians also decreased, by more than 2,500.

Bad roads and broken cars

As before, a significant proportion of traffic accidents (more than a quarter) are accidents that occurred due to the improper operational condition of roads and railway crossings.

In 2021, there were more than 45.7 thousand such road accidents with serious consequences, almost 4.7 thousand people died in them and more than 57 thousand were injured. Nevertheless, all three indicators improved slightly compared to 2020.

Due to the operation of technically faulty vehicles in 2021, more than 7.6 thousand serious accidents occurred, in which 1226 people died and almost 10.4 thousand more were injured.  

• AGN "Moscow"

• © Mobile reporter

ambitious plan

Recall that in 2018, Vladimir Putin set a task for the government of the Russian Federation: by 2024, to achieve a reduction in road deaths by three and a half times from the level of 2017.

The target indicator of social risk, which must be achieved by this time, is similar to the European level and is no more than four deaths on the roads per 100,000 people.

An even more ambitious goal has been set for 2030; it is spelled out in the Strategy for Road Safety in the Russian Federation for 2018-2024.

“The goals of the strategy are to improve road safety, as well as the goal of zero deaths in road traffic accidents by 2030,” the document says.

Progress is noticeable

Meanwhile, in Moscow, the accident rate per capita reached the level of European countries a few years ago.

Thus, the death rate in road accidents decreased to the mark of four people per 100 thousand people already by the end of 2017.

It continued to decline in the future, despite the fact that the population of Moscow itself is steadily growing.

In 2021, despite an increase in the total number of serious road accidents in Moscow, the number of deaths and injuries in them, albeit slightly, decreased again.

For comparison, it is worth noting that until relatively recently, in the middle of the 2000s, with a significantly smaller number of vehicles on the roads, more than 1 thousand people died annually in the capital.

Nevertheless, real progress in the field of traffic safety is obvious not only in Moscow, but also in the whole country.

At the start of the 2000s, when road traffic deaths peaked, the death toll exceeded 30,000 annually, more than double what it is today.