Road accidents - Preliminary estimates. January-June 2024

According to the preliminary estimates, in the period January–June 2024, there is an increase, compared to the same period in 2023, in the number of road accidents resulting in death or injury (80,057; +0.9%), injured (107,643; +0.5%), and fatalities within 30 days (1,429; +4.0%).

Comparing the data with the first six months of 2019, which was chosen as a reference year for the European Commission’s “Road Safety Policy Framework 2021-2030” (aiming for a 50% reduction in the number of fatalities and serious injuries by 2030), there is still a decrease in road accidents (-4.3%), injuries (-8.0%), and deaths (-6.8%). Nevertheless, the increase in road fatalities in the first six months of 2024 moves Italy further away from the European targets (see Figure 1 and Table 1).

Compared to the first half of 2023, fatalities decreased on motorways (-13.9%) but increased on urban roads (+7.9%) and rural roads (+1.0%). When comparing the data to the period January-June 2019, fatalities in the first six months of 2024 show a significant decrease on motorways (-31.9%) and a more moderate decrease on rural roads (-4.2%); while, urban roads have seen an estimated increase of 1.1%.

The automotive market grew in the first six months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, with a 5.1% increase in new passenger’s car registrations and a 5.8% increase in motorcycles. On the other hand, compared to 2019, new car registrations show a decline (-16.5%), while motorcycles record a strong increase (+47.5%). The use of shared mobility services, such as electric scooters, shows variable trends across cities (e.g., growing in Rome and significantly declining in Milan).

In the first four months of 2024, cumulative motorway travel data shows a 3.1% increase in vehicle kilometres travelled compared to the same period last year, mainly due to the increase in heavy vehicle travel (+4% compared to 2023); light vehicle traffic also shows an increase (+2.7%). For the main extra-urban road network, there is a slight increase in light and heavy vehicles traffic in the first half of 2024 (+1.4%), with an average increase of about 1% for light vehicles and 1.9% for heavy vehicles.