Norway receives European road safety award

Norway has been awarded the European Road Safety Performance Index Award for 2024 by the ETSC (European Transport Safety Council). We now have the lowest number of road fatalities per capita in all of Europe.

• 87 people died in traffic accidents in 2024
• This is a decrease of 36% since 2016.
• 16 traffic fatalities per million inhabitants, compared to 44 on average in Europe

“Road users deserve a large share of the credit, ” says Minister of Transport Jon-Ivar Nygård , while emphasizing that we must keep up the pressure on road safety efforts.

– We cannot accept that people die or are injured on Norwegian roads.

The fact that Norway is now Europe's safest country for road users is far from a coincidence. As justification for awarding the award this year, ETSC cites, among other things:

• Norway's consistent and long-term approach to road safety work has led to the number of road deaths continuing to decline despite relatively low figures.
• Norway has a national action plan for road traffic safety with 15 priority areas and 179 specific measures, which are followed up by a number of road safety actors.
• Norway's milestone goal with a maximum of 50 fatalities in road traffic in 2030 and 0 fatalities in 2050.

Jon-Ivar Nygård also points out that Norwegians largely follow the speed limits.

– In general, Norwegians respect traffic rules, including speed limits. The proportion of vehicles that stay within the speed limit has increased from 45.6% in 2006 to 62.1% in 2023, he says.

Smart technology like Safedrive has also helped make a difference for many drivers in Norway. With over 250,000 users, Safedrive is the country's largest community along the road. A full 66.7% state that they become more aware of speed and driving behavior when using the service. Through warning functions and the Safedrive Reward program – which rewards safe driving – Safedrive contributes to important and lasting changes in traffic.

At the same time, we see that countries without such services face major challenges:

In Switzerland, authorities have banned roadside warning services. They are now reporting a serious deterioration in road safety, with the number of road fatalities increasing by a whopping 34% between 2019 and 2024, according to Markus Deublein, Dr. sc. ETHZ at the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention.

This emphasizes how crucial it is to have technology that actually supports and sharpens drivers in traffic – not weakens them.

For several years, Safedrive has been strengthening both awareness and safety in traffic. We are proud to be part of the long-term promise for better traffic safety – with technology that works in everyday life:

• We warn of obstacles and incidents along the road, creating safety and predictability for drivers.
• Safedrive Reward motivates safe driving by rewarding those who stick to the speed limit – week after week, year after year.
• Our technology sharpens focus behind the wheel, contributing to increased safety margins when it matters most.

Safedrive has quickly become Norway's largest community along the road, contributing to a positive driver impact on over 700,000 journeys every single day.

Read more about how Safedrive strengthens traffic safety.