The Status of Traffic Safety and Mobility Education in Europe

Even though the overwhelming majority of European countries have signed the UNECE’s
Convention on Road Traffic and thereby committed to provide road safety education
in schools at all levels, this first overview of traffic safety and mobility education in
Europe shows that in practice this commitment is not always fulfilled. Only in the Czech
Republic, Ireland and Germany is road safety education provided at all levels.

While road safety education is provided to children in primary education all over Europe,
it is generally not given to children and youngsters in secondary education in 19% of
the states. Moreover, the overview reveals that traffic safety and mobility education
is generally only sparsely addressed in secondary education in those states where it
is given. This while traffic mortality steeply increases after 13 years of age, and those
children and youngsters in high schools could therefore benefit from receiving road
safety lessons structurally.

For both primary and secondary education, this report shows that traffic safety and
mobility education is not a dedicated subject in the vast majority of states (respectively 72% and 83%). In addition, the amount of hours primary school children receive road safety education differs widely across Europe and even within states.