In a press conference held in late June, the minister for mobility, François Bausch admitted that 2022 was not a good year for road safety. Of the 35 fatal accidents recorded on Luxembourgish roads, 15 were associated with drink-driving.

The 35 fatal traffic accidents signal an increase of 67 percent compared to the previous year.

However, a new document was released to the press this week, outlining the presumed causes of serious and fatal accidents in Luxembourg in 2022. And, as feared, it seems that 15 fatal and 36 serious accidents involved a level of alcohol in excess of the legal limit. This makes alcohol the leading cause of death on Luxembourgish roads in 2022.

Not far behind is excessive speeding, being the cause of 11 fatal and 57 serious accidents. Whilst the government invested in awareness campaigns and carried out speed checks, the high rate suggests the efforts were insufficient.
The Minister for Mobility, however, blames what he calls the 'post-Covid effect,' which is credited for the increase in road death figures in many European countries, including 'good' performers such as Finland and Sweden.

François Bausch also stresses the need to keep in mind proportionality in small countries such as Luxembourg. "When the statistics are small, we often have to rely on large fluctuations in the figures," he points out.

The fact remains that Luxembourg has had a difficult year in terms of road safety: 35 fatal accidents and 36 deaths, the vast majority of which were alcohol- or speed-related. Clearly, the message is not getting across.

Also worth noting is that behind alcohol and speeding, failure to give way was the cause of the greatest number of serious accidents (33) on our roads in 2022. Not far behind were crossing the adjacent safety line (4 fatal accidents, 29 serious accidents) and failing to keep a safety distance (2 fatal accidents, 21 serious accidents).