Drink-driving, phone use at the wheel, and speeding: a Swiss study ranks Luxembourgish motorists among the most reckless in Europe.

The Swiss website vignetteswitzerland.com has analysed official European Commission road accident statistics alongside data from the European Survey of Road Users’ Attitudes (ESRA), conducted by the Vias institute, to assess and compare driving habits across Europe. The study focused on six key risk factors: fatal accident rates, drink-driving, speeding on motorways, driving while tired, mobile phone use behind the wheel, and failure to wear seatbelts.

Latvia emerged at the top of the list with a recklessness score of 75.83 – the highest among the countries studied. It also recorded the highest road fatality rate, with 75 deaths per million inhabitants. Alarmingly, 43.6% of Latvian drivers admitted to using their mobile phones while driving.

Austria followed closely behind, scoring 73.33. The data revealed that 22.1% of Austrian drivers confessed to driving after drinking alcohol, while a striking 68.8% said they exceeded speed limits on motorways.

Greece comes in third with a score of 70.00, showing the highest percentage of drivers not wearing seatbelts (27.7%) of all the countries studied and a significant 41.1% of drivers using mobile phones while driving.

Luxembourg is at the bottom of the depressing podium for reckless drivers. The country ranks fourth with a score of 65.83, has the highest percentage in Europe of drivers who admit to driving after consuming alcohol (37.2%) and to speeding on motorways (79.3%).

Mattijs Wijnmalen, managing director of Vignetteswitzerland.com adds: "What is particularly alarming is that in countries like Luxembourg and Finland, known for their high standards of living and infrastructure, we are seeing extremely high rates of specific dangerous behavior."

The report further conclides that in Luxembourg, nearly 4 out of 10 drivers admit to driving after drinking alcohol, while in Finland, nearly half of drivers use a mobile phone while driving.

Among our direct neighbors, Belgian drivers are the most reckless, in ninth place. The French come in 18th place in the ranking, just ahead of the Germans in 19th place.