This Is the Most Dangerous European Country to Drive In, According to a New Study

Stay alert when you're in these European countries.

In 2023, nearly one in three Americans traveling outside of the country chose to visit a destination in Europe, according to data from the International Trade Administration. Some three million chose to visit the United Kingdom, while 1.5 million made their way to France and 1.6 million headed off to Germany. But the rest were sprinkled all around the continent. And while there, millions of people also rented a vehicle to discover their new landscapes.

If you're going to be among the likely record number of Americans visiting Europe in 2024, that's great. But, if you're going to be among those who rent a car, it's good to get informed on which nations have the most dangerous driving conditions and which are the safest.

Vignetteswitzerland.com analyzed data from the European Transport Safety Council to determine which countries had the highest road deaths per million inhabitants. After crunching the numbers, the team found that the most dangerous country to drive in Europe is Romania, where 2022 statistics show 85.81 deaths per million inhabitants. But, as the website noted, there is a little bit of good news here as "this is a 10.26 percent drop from 2012, which saw 95.62 deaths per million inhabitants."

The second-most dangerous destination on the list is Serbia, with 82.65 road deaths per million inhabitants. However, this also marked another significant drop compared to 2012 data, which showed the country had 95.01 road deaths per million inhabitants.

Rounding out the top five most dangerous countries to drive across Europe is Bulgaria in third, with 77.64 road deaths per million inhabitants; Croatia in fourth place with 71.20 road deaths per million inhabitants; and Portugal in fifth, with 62.30 road deaths per million inhabitants. But again, the silver lining for Portugal is this number marks an 8.53 percent drop from the 2012 data, which had 68.11 road deaths per million inhabitants.

As for the safest nations, the study ranked Norway as number one as it had just 21.38 deaths per million inhabitants, followed by Sweden with 21.72 road deaths per million inhabitants. The U.K. ranked as the third safest, with 25.89 road deaths per million inhabitants.

It's important to remember that none of this data is presented to scare you. Rather, it's here to inform you and remind you to abide by local laws to keep you and whoever is in your passenger seat safe on your travels.

“With how connected Europe is, and how easy it is to travel from one country to another, it’s important to keep knowledge of the driving conditions in each country you travel to," M. E.Wijnmalen, CEO of Vignetteswitzerland.com, said in a statement provided to Travel + Leisure. "Many factors can affect these conditions, such as road quality, driving laws or even changes in speed limits that can influence the risk you run of simply just being on the road.”

And just in case you're preparing for a road trip, here are 14 essential safety products to make sure you have in your trunk before you go.

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