Cyclist safety gap widening in Europe as Ireland sees rising serious injuries

The findings highlight an urgent need for action on motor vehicle speed reduction and investment in separated cycling infrastructure, including in Ireland.

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%. By contrast, deaths among motorised road users fell at an annual rate of 2%, four times faster.

To meet the EU’s 2030 target of halving road deaths, an overall 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, and without significant safety improvements, this proportion is expected to grow.

Ireland has a relatively low cyclist mortality rate compared to many EU countries. Based on the average for 2022–2024, 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.

Despite an increase in serious injuries observed over the period 2014-2024 in Ireland based on police data, there was a 21% decrease in serious injuries among cyclists over the five-year period 2020-2024.

Studies across Europe show that the actual number of serious injuries is underestimated in police records. Research based on hospital data suggests that the true scale of serious injuries is far higher, with fewer than 10% of injured cyclists appearing in police statistics in some countries.

In Ireland, hospital records show between two and three times more seriously injured cyclists than police?based data for the years 2014–2022. They also reveal around nine times more collisions involving no other vehicle in hospital records compared with police-based data. In addition, the hospital data indicate that cyclist hospitalisations doubled in 2022 relative to 2014, along with a sustained increase in the number of cyclist collisions involving no other vehicle up to 2023.

Across the EU, 65% of cyclist deaths result from collisions with motor vehicles. Passenger cars account for 44% of cyclist deaths, with heavy goods vehicles (9%) and vans (7%) also contributing significantly.

At the same time, at least 28% of cyclist deaths involve no other vehicle, such as falls or collisions with kerbs or stationary objects. In Ireland, collisions involving no other vehicle are the leading cause of serious injuries among cyclists admitted to hospital. This underlines the importance of high-quality, well-maintained cycling infrastructure to prevent both serious and fatal injuries.

The ETSC is calling on governments to prioritise lower speed limits and enforce 30 km/h zones in urban areas where cyclists and motor vehicles share space. The risk of death for a cyclist hit at 50 km/h is many times higher than at 30 km/h.

The report also stresses the need for substantial investment in high-quality, separated cycling infrastructure – including protected lanes, dedicated cycle paths and safer junction design. Smooth, wide, and obstacle-free surfaces are also essential to reduce single-bicycle crashes.

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.”

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.”

The full report is available at www.etsc.eu/pinflash50.