Luxembourg L

Road Safety Country Profile

COUNTRY FACTS

Area: 2 586 km2

Inhabitants: 444 050 (2003)
Road Network: 5 210 km (2000)
Passenger Car Ratio: 646 per 1 000 inhabitants (2002)

Although Luxembourg is a small country in size, it has a relatively high level of transit traffic on its
main (Trans-European) motorway sections. Luxembourg road traffic patterns and consequently
road safety figures are influenced by the high level of commuting cross-border traffic. Combined,
these two factors represented more than 20 % of the fatalities in 2003 (11 deaths).

Whereas there is no formal National Road Safety Action Plan in Luxembourg, the issue is part of the
governmental priorities and actions have been taken, particularly during recent years. This has had
a positive impact on the number of accidents, injuries and fatalities since 2000.

The statistics on injuries and accidents with corporal injury should be treated with precaution, as
the annual fluctuations are influenced by the collection method, particularly in the 1990's. In recent
years, the collection method for road safety statistics has been improved considerably.

Table 1. Annual development in injury accidents, injuries and fatalities in Luxembourg, 1991-2004. Please note
that only the number of fatalities is comparable to similar statistics for the other Member States due to
differences in data collection procedures for the number of accidents and injuries.

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Accidents * 1 126 1 139 1 184 1 133 1 145 1 050 1 016 1 058 1 076 899 772 769 664 692

Injuries 1 639 1 656 1 642 1 575 1 660 1 538 1 498 1 500 1 500 1 255 1 176 1 728 1 049 1 079

Fatalities ** 83 69 78 65 70 71 60 57 58 76 70 62 53 49
per million
inhabitants 216 177 197 162 172 172 143 135 135 174 159 140 119 110

* Accidents with injuries

** Death within 30 days of accident

Source: CARE project data (see also: http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/care/index_en.htm)

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 Figure 1. Annual developments (year 2001 = 100) in fatalities and accidents on national and EU-25 level.

150
140
130
120
110
100 Fatalities (Luxembourg)
90 Accidents (Luxembourg)
80 Fatalities (EU-25)
70 Accidents (EU-25)
60
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Source: CARE project data (see also: http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/care/index_en.htm)

Country organisation, responsibilities and resources

The Ministry of Transport has the overall responsibility for road safety in Luxembourg, and
collaborates closely with the Police (approx. 700 policemen present on the entire road network)
who, besides enforcement of road safety (together with the Ministry of Justice) provide data and
information.

In 2003, the Ministry of Transport had a budget of € 200 000 for road safety awareness campaigns.

Other (non-profit) organisations are active on road safety awareness, education and prevention
(focussed on drink driving and speeding) such as:

• “La Sécurité Routière” which carries out various national and local campaigns on road safety
• The Association of Road Victims
• Responsible Young Drivers (awareness for young drivers).

Other governmental bodies involved in road safety include:

• The Ministry of the Interior (co-ordination of legislation and regulations).

• The Ministry of Public Works: road traffic department (responsible for road infrastructure and
road signing)
• The Ministry of Public Health (responsible for emergency aid for traffic accident victims)
• The Ministry of Education: awareness courses on road safety in primary and secondary
schools.

Private companies in Luxembourg also provide internal awareness campaigns on road safety
targeted at their personnel.

The Vehicle Inspection Centre (SNCT) also provides driving training to young or voluntary drivers, as
well as for bus and moped drivers.

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 There is no road safety observatory in Luxembourg. However, an annual report on road safety
published by the Ministry of Transport together with the Police (Police Grand-Ducale) gives detailed
information about accidents. This report is used by the authorities to monitor the improvement of
road safety.

Transport policies
The primary objective of the Government of Luxembourg as regards road safety is to reduce the
number of victims (both killed and injured) on the roads. At present, no target or goal has been
established for 2010.

The Police make road safety checks and carry out a different, dedicated road safety campaign or
action every month focusing on specific areas e.g. speed, alcohol, seatbelts etc. as well as having
radar controls.

Due to the use of electronic recording of accident reports, road safety data collection has improved
since 2002. Statistics have become more reliable, allowing for better understanding of the
circumstances causing road accidents. This has in turn provided a better focus in the controls
undertaken, integrating both enforcement and prevention.

In terms of traffic rules, the main changes introduced in Luxembourg in recent years were:

• The penalty point permit (November 2002) together with increased fines (but not a steep
increase)
• Adaptation of the speed limit to 130 km/h on highways (110 km/h in case of bad weather)
instead of 120 km/h
• Reduction of the alcohol limit to 0.8 g/l
• Compulsory hands-free kits for mobile phone use in cars
• Reduction of speed limit in urban areas and creation of 30 km/h zones
• Creation of roundabouts at intersections

Public transport is well-developed and the public is encouraged to use it: park-and-ride with free
public transport (in Luxembourg City), free bus transport between certain municipalities (including
cross border) and access to free bicycles from railway stations.

The issue of seatbelts in buses is being studied. Installation of permanent automatic radars has not
been voted on yet. Luxembourg is collecting its share of Euro-Vignette revenue from heavy goods
vehicles.

Road safety is a priority of the current government, which intends to adopt EU legislation and
recommendations where these are not already covered by national policy.

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 Road safety action plans
Although Luxembourg does not have any formal road safety action plan with specific targets to be
reached, improvement of road safety and the reduction of the number of victims (especially among
the young) are underlined in the latest Government Programme (August 2004). The programme
constitutes a medium-term road safety plan, and road safety improvements are envisaged to be
achieved both by prevention and enforcement.

Prevention: The number of road safety campaigns has increased in recent years and will continue
to do so, particularly those targeted at young drivers. Initiatives such as “late night buses” are also
encouraged.

Training and education of (young and novice) drivers, as well as additional driving courses are
organised in order to combat critical driving behaviour. These courses cover theoretical and
practical driving lessons, accompanying measures, the provisional driving licence, advanced
practical training (preventive, anticipative and defensive driving; vehicle behaviour in curves;
emergency braking; driving on dry and wet surfaces; skid behaviour of vehicles).

Safety and signalling audits are being promoted to improve road black spots.

Enforcement: The priority is to combat excessive/inappropriate speed associated with aggressive

behaviour and drug and alcohol consumption. This is to be achieved through the extension of the
coverage of the road traffic centre (CITA), installation of automatic radars, enforcement and
alternative penalties. Installation of automatic radars is currently being discussed; consideration is
being given to privacy policies.

The implementation of road safety actions is being coordinated by the “Commission de Circulation
de l’Etat”, an official working group which gathers once a month and is composed of
representatives on the main road safety stakeholders. This body acts as an inter-ministerial
committee, providing the government with advice on road safety issues as well as publishing
leaflets on for example, traffic on motorways, safety for motorised two-wheel vehicles and
adaptation of the highway code.

Topics
During the past 5 years, public awareness of road safety has increased as has the political support
for measures. Police enforcement has become more focused on road safety, and the number of
controls targeting road safety has increased significantly.

This has had a positive impact on road safety statistics in recent years, with a declining in the
number of fatalities, accidents and injured persons. This has been achieved despite increases in
traffic level and the number of registered cars.

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 Road users
Analysis of statistics shows that the main cause of fatalities is speed, followed by fatigue and non-
observance of right of way rules. The statistics on alcohol as a cause of fatalities probably do not
reflect reality, due to the strict private data protection laws in Luxembourg limiting the disclosure
of the offender details.

The rules for driving licence examination and the probationary training period have been tightened
over the past years.

A road safety campaign was launched in 1996, targeting young road users, together with the
introduction of obligatory road safety education in schools (practical and theoretical) and the
quality of driving classes was improved.

This initiative is believed to have improved the behaviour of young road users, resulting in the
positive development of fewer young persons being killed in traffic. From 1993-1995 to 2003, the
share of fatalities between the age 18 and 24 declined steadily from 28 % to 22 % of all fatalities.
Meanwhile, significant increases in the share of fatalities were recorded for the age groups
31-40 and 41-50.

Road safety campaigns take place all year round, focusing on different issues such as wearing
seatbelts on urban or rural roads, wearing helmets, drink-driving and speeding, etc.

Luxembourg is improving the systematic transmission of road safety offences by non-residents to

the judiciaries of their countries of origin.

Figure 2. Fatalities by class of road users.

60

50
Bus
40 Car user
Goods vehicle
30 Two-wheel motor vehicle
Bus
Pedal driven
20 Car user
Pedestrian
Goods vehicle
Two-wheel
Other motor vehicle
10 Pedal driven
Pedestrian
0 Other
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Source: CARE project data (see also: http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/care/index_en.htm)

Vehicles
The legislation on vehicle technical inspection was changed in 2004, so that heavy goods vehicles
can be checked anywhere. In line with EU directives, trucks and buses must be equipped with
speed-limiting devices. The same devices are implemented on mopeds.

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 Road infrastructure improvement
In 2003, accidents on rural roads accounted for approximately 62 % of those killed on the roads,
followed by urban traffic (27 %) and highways (11 %). Although highways are the safest roads, a
significant number of accidents have been recorded at the intersections around main service
stations. Measures are planned to improve these areas and their access.

Discussions between the Association of Motorcyclists and the Ministry of Transport have led to the
issuing of new guidelines for protection barriers, in order to reduce their impact on these road
users.

Other topics
The number of cyclists is increasing and special cycle paths are available. Helmets are
recommended, but not compulsory.

The CITA project (part of the EU-CENTRICO project) established by the Road Administration is aimed
at setting up a motorway traffic control and information system (including real time weather and
traffic data collection, video surveillance, information to road users through VMS). The CITA project
will be extended to the whole main road network.

As part of this project, a traffic management plan on the Brussels-Luxembourg-Langres route was
developed in 2002 to deal with traffic events and alternative road deviations along this axis.

Vehicles are not allowed to overtake in road and motorway tunnels.

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 Information

Contacts
• Ministry of Transport, Francine Decker

References
• Road Traffic Accident Assessment to 31st December 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000 (Bilan des
accidents de circulation au 31 décembre 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000)

Websites
• Government of the Grand-Duchy of Luxemburg (Le Gouvernement du Grand-Duché de
Luxembourg):
- http://www.gouvernement.lu
- http://www.etat.lu
• Ministry of National Education, Sports and Transport, joint didactic web site on road safety:
http://www.msr.lu
• Police: http://www.police.public.lu
• La Sécurité Routière, association luxembourgeoise pour la prévention des accidents de la
route:
- http://www.securite-routiere.lu
• Real time traffic information project: http://www.cita.lu
• Road infrastructure management (Administration des Ponts et Chaussées):
http://www.pch.etat.lu/index.html
• Vehicle technical control and driver training (Société Nationale de Contrôle Technique):
http://www.snct.lu

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