Spike in Polish road death toll
PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek
15.05.2017 11:30
Poland's road death toll rose in 2016 for the first time in five years, with speeding and the removal of speed cameras the main causes of fatal crashes, according to the Rzeczpospolita daily.
Memorial to victim of motorcycle crash. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Artur Andrzej.
In 2016, 3,026 people died in crashes, 88 more than the year before, the paper said, citing a government road safety report.
Additionally, 909 more people were seriously injured in 2016 than the year before, taking the total to 12,109, the daily said.
Rzeczpospolita said the statistics show a trend of improving road safety was reversed, as road death tolls had dropped each year since 2011.
Poland is also falling behind in EU statistics, from sixth-worst in 2014 to fourth-worst in 2016 by the number of deaths per 100,000 citizens, putting the country ahead of Latvia, Romania and Bulgaria, the daily said. (vb/pk)