ROAD SAFETY ANNUAL REPORT 2019

SERBIA

ROAD SAFETY REPORT 2019 |SERBIASERBIA
Serbia reported 546 road deaths in 2018, a 5.7% decline on 2017. The mortality rate
was 7.8 road deaths per 100 000 inhabitants. Serbia adopted the Law on Roads in 2018.
This law provides for the introduction of procedures such as road safety inspections, roadsafety audits and black spot identification. The current road safety strategy covers theperiod 2015-20. It has several targets including a 50% reduction of the number of roaddeaths, seriously injured and seriously injured children between 2011 and 2020.

TrendsSerbiaregisteredanoveralldecrease in the number of road deaths in 2018. According to the latest data, 546 persons lost their lives in traffic crashes in Serbia in 
2018. This represents a 5.7% decline 
on 2017. In 2017, 579 road deaths
were reported, itself a 4.6% decline 
on 2016.


Country Profile
Population in 2018: 7 million
GDP per capita in 2018: 7 214 USD
Cost of road crashes: 0.7% of GDP (2017)
Road network in 2014: 44 406 kilometres
Registered motor vehicles in 2018: 2.5 million(cars 81%; goods vehicles 9%; motorcycles 2%)
Speed limits: 50 km/h on urban roads; 80100 km/h on rural roads; 130 km/h on motorways
Limits on Blood Alcohol Content: 0.2 g/l for
general drivers; 0.0 g/l for professional drivers,
novice drivers and motorcyclists

The longer-term trend for roaddeathsinSerbiahas
shown
significant progress. Between 2000 and 2018, the number of annual road fatalities fell by
48%.
The number of traffic deaths per 100 000 inhabitants in Serbia has fallen by 44%
between 2000 and 2018. In 2018, 7.8 traffic deaths per 100 000 inhabitants wererecorded, compared to 13.9 in 2000. By way of comparison, the average in the European
Union is 4.9 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants in 2018.
Serbia recorded 2.2 road fatalities per 10 000 registered vehicles in 2018. This
represents a decrease of 40% compared to the year 2010, when the rate of deaths toregistered vehicles stood at 3.6.

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Figure 1. Road safety, vehicle stock and GDP trends
Index 2000 = 100

200

Fatalities

Injury crashes

Motor vehicles

GDP

180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

The graph for fatalities by road user groups shows that passenger car occupants
continue to be the group most affected by road crashes. In 2018, passenger car
occupants accounted for the largest share of road deaths with 44% of the total. They
were followed by pedestrians (28%), motorcyclists (7%) and cyclists (7%).
The largest increase in 2018 was registered among pedestrians with 10 more deaths(+7.1%) compared to 2017. Moped riders were the only other group to see road
fatalities increase in 2018 (1 more road fatality than in 2017).
Passenger car occupants recorded 30 fewer road fatalities (-11.1%) in 2018 than in theyear prior. They were followed by cyclists with 10 fewer (-20.8%) and motorcyclists with
9 fewer (-19.1%).
The long-term trend shows that traffic in Serbia has become safer for most but not allroad user groups. In particular, motorcyclists have failed to benefit from the road safety
improvements implemented in the past decades. The number of annual motorcycle
fatalities stood at 29 in 2000 before peaking in 2008 when 79 motorcyclists were killed
on Serbian roads. Since, fatalities have receded slightly with 39 motorcyclists killed in2018 – still a 34.5% increase on 2000. This can be partly explained by the significant
increase in registered motorcycles and mopeds in Serbia between 2010 and 2018. During
this time motorised two-wheeler registrations increased by 71%.
Since 2000, all other user groups saw the number of road fatalities decline. The strongest
decline was registered among moped riders who recorded 73% fewer fatalities in 2018.
They were followed by cyclists (-70%), pedestrians (-52%) and passenger car occupants(-43%).

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Figure 2. Road fatalities by road user group in percentage of total, 2018

Road deaths by age group in 2018 showed some changes compared to 2017. The
number of road deaths decreased for people between 65 and 74 years of age (-17.6%),
25-64 year olds (-13.5%) and children between 0 and 14 years (5 fewer fatalities, 29.4%). The number of fatal casualties increased for adolescents and young adults; eachage category between 15 and 24 years of age saw road fatalities increase by 50% ormore. People aged 21-24, in particular, saw 52% more fatalities in 2018 - a 13 person
increase on their record-low total of 25 in 2017. Likewise, the elderly above 75 saw an
uptick of 12.2% more deaths on 2017.
Looking at the longer-term trend, since 2000, the number of road deaths decreased for
all groups, with the exception of the elderly. Those over 75 recorded 7 more deaths in2018 than in 2000 for an increase of 9.2% over this period. The strongest fatality
reduction over this period occurred among 0-14 year olds, who registered 31 fewer
deaths (-72%).
Despite recent improvements, young people continue to be at very high risk in trafficwith a mortality rate much above the average. 18-20 and 21-24 year olds suffer traffic
fatalities at rates of 11.4 and 11.8 per 100 000 persons, respectively.
Elderly people above 75 face the highest fatality risk on Serbian roads, however. In
2018, this group perished in traffic at a rate of 14.3 per 100 000 persons. The elderly areparticularly vulnerable as pedestrians with slightly over 50% of this group’s 2018 road
fatalities occurring as pedestrians.

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ROAD SAFETY REPORT 2019 |SERBIA

Figure 3. Road fatality rates by age group, 2000-2018
Deaths per 100 000 population in a given age group

Figure 4. Road fatality rate by age and road user group, 2018
Fatalities per 100 000 population

Analysis of fatalities by road type shows that the majority of fatalities in Serbia occur
in urban areas. In 2018, 47% of fatalities occurred on urban roads, 43% on rural roads
and 10% on motorways. Data prior to and following 2016 are not fully comparable due toa change in definition.

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Figure 5. Road fatalities by road typeFigure 6. Evolution of road deaths by user category, age group and road type,2010-2018

Fatality data are essential to understand road safety issues but hardly sufficient.
Information on serious injuries from crashes is also critically important. Since
2010, there has been a downward trend in the number of serious injuries from crashes
in Serbia. In 2018, there were 3 338 serious injuries, 545 fewer than in 2010 (-14%).
A reduction in the number of serious injuries from crashes is present in all categories
of road users. In response to the European Commission recommendation to collect
MAIS3+ data, research was undertaken on options for implementing the MAIS3+
injury scale. The full scale implementation of this project started in 2019.

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ROAD SAFETY REPORT 2019 |SERBIA

Economic costs of road crashes
Serbia estimates the costs of road crashes (fatalities, severe and slight injuries) bymultiplying the number of road fatalities by EUR 470 000. On that basis, the total costsof road crashes in Serbia in 2017 amount to EUR 272.1 million, or 0.7% of Serbia’s GDP.
Based on experience from other countries and methodologies used to assess the cost ofroad crashes, it seems that this estimate could be largely underreported.
Table 1. Costs of road crashes, 2017

Total

Unit cost [EUR]

Total [EUR]

470 000

272 130 000

Total as % of GDP

0.7%

Behaviour
The behaviour of road users is an important determinant of a country’s road safety
performance. Inappropriate or excessive speed is the most frequent cause of roadcrashes in Serbia. In 2018, speed was identified as a factor in 52% of fatal road crashes.
The improvement in road crash data collection from January 2016 has enabled a more
precise analysis of crash contributing factors including the contribution of excessive
speed for various types of crashes.
Speed measurement conducted in 2018 showed that 48% of passenger car drivers
exceeded the speed limit in urban areas (54% in 2016). Drivers are better behaved onother road types as this share drops to 15% on motorways and 30% on all other roads
outside urban areas.
The table below summarises the main speed limits in Serbia.
Table 2. Passenger car speed limits by road type, 2019
General speed limit

Comments

Urban roads

50 km/hSpeed limit for novice driver are 90% of the defined
speed limits on certain roads

Rural roads

80/1001 km/h

Motorways

120 km/h

1. Speed limit on roads (usually called “motor roads”) dedicated only to motorcyclists, passenger cars, cargovehicles and buses, with or without trailers, marked by a special traffic sign.

Driving under the influence of alcohol is another major cause of road crashes in
Serbia. In 2016, about 17% of fatal road crashes were related to driving under the
influence of alcohol. This share was lower in previous years before a change in datacollection and compilation procedures was introduced in 2016. In 2018, 0.6% of drivers
were under the influence of alcohol while driving.
© INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT FORUM/OECD 20197

ROAD SAFETY REPORT 2019 |SERBIAIn Serbia, the maximum authorised blood alcohol content (BAC) is 0.2 g/l since 2018(0.3 g/l before). A lower limit of 0.0 g/l is applied to several categories of road users,
including: novice drivers, professional drivers, drivers of vehicles with a maximum
allowed weight over than 3.5 tonnes, drivers of motorcycles, mopeds, light tricycles andquadricycles.
The Law on Road Traffic Safety forbids driving under the influence of illicit drugs.
Driving under the influence of drugs or forbidden medications was detected as a factor in
only 2 fatal road crashes in 2018. Improvement in data related to driving under the
influence of drugs is needed to fully recognise the true scale of the problem.
An increasing problem for traffic safety in Serbia is distraction for instance through theuse of mobile phones while driving or crossing a street. In 2018, 4.7% of drivers usedmobile phones while driving passenger cars. There is no data on the impact of the use ofmobile phones on crashes.
Seat-belt wearing has been compulsory in front seats since 1982 and since 2009 inrear seats. Child restraints have been compulsory since 2009 for children up to 3 years
old. Amendments and additions to the Law on Road Traffic Safety include newrequirements including dedicated child seats for all children less than 12 years of age andbelow 135 cm in height.
Nevertheless, seatbelt usage is still low in Serbia and many lives could be saved with ahigher usage rate. A roadside survey undertaken in 2018 indicated that the seat belt
wearing rate is 85% for drivers and 80% for front seat passengers but only 12% forrear-seat occupants. In 2018, child restraints were used for 60% of children up to 3
years old, but for only 45% of children between 4 and 12 years old.
Table 3. Seatbelt and helmet wearing rates
Percentages
2013

2015

2018

Driver

68

74

85

Passenger

66

70

80

Urban roads (driver)

65

70

82

Rural roads (driver)

72

78

84

Motorways (driver)

81

83

91

General3712Children 0-3 (use of child restraint)

32

44

60

Children 4-12 (use of child restraint)

7

15

45

Riders of mopeds

84

74

85

Riders of motorcycles

94

89

95

Riders of motorised two-wheelers

87

80

90

Front seats

Rear seats

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For motorcyclists, helmet wearing is the most effective passive safety habit. In Serbia,
helmets have been compulsory for users of all powered-two wheelers since 1982. In
2018, the helmet-wearing rate was 85% for moped riders and 95% for motorcyclists.
There is no mandatory helmet law for cyclists.

Road safety management and strategies
There are several factors that influence road safety performance of Serbia as
captured by the above indicators. The Law on Road Traffic Safety, adopted in 2009, led
to the implementation of several important measures, including:• the establishment of institutions such as the national Road Traffic Safety Coordination
Body, Road Traffic Safety Agency, etc.;• the introduction of a penalty point system in 2009;• the introduction of a graduated licensing system in 2012;• the reduction of the maximum legal blood alcohol content (BAC) to 0.3 g/l in 2009 andto 0.2 g/l in 2018;• the introduction of a 50 km/h speed limit in urban areas in 2009;• compulsory seat belt wearing for rear seats in 2009.
Responsibility for the organisation of road safety in Serbia lies with the Ministry ofTransport and Ministry of Interior. They are supported by the Road Traffic Safety Agency(RTSA), which manages legal and technical issues in the field of road traffic safety. The
agency also co-operates with regional and local bodies for road traffic safety. The
National Road Traffic Safety Co-ordination Commission is composed of ministers incharge of traffic, interior affairs, health, labour, justice, education and trade and services
with the main aim of harmonising efforts to improve road safety.
In June 2015, Serbia adopted the National Strategy for Road Traffic Safety for theperiod 2015-2020. The National Strategy includes several targets, including a 50%
reduction of the number of road deaths, seriously injured and seriously injured children
between 2011 and 2020, a 50% reduction of the total annual social-economic costs ofroad crashes and no children killed in traffic by 2020.
To guide actions towards the achievement of these goals, a set of performance indicators
has been established based on recommendations from the European SafetyNet project.
This includes indicators on the use of protective equipment (seatbelts, child restraints,
motorcycle helmets), speeding, drink driving and the use of daytime running lights.

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Figure 7. Trends in road fatalities towards national target

MeasuresSerbia adopted the Law on Roads in 2018. The main improvements are the introductionof procedures such as road safety inspections, road safety audits and black spot
identification. In addition, in 2018, amendments and additions to the Law on Road Traffic
Safety were adopted. They have improved regulations for novice drivers and child
restraint systems. The Road Traffic Safety Agency is currently preparing the rulebook on
licencing of road safety auditors and road safety inspectors.
Road safety management
 In 2018, software for traffic police operations in the field has been established at the
Ministry of Interior. The software enables targeted control of compliance of traffic
regulations based on data about traffic crash locations, factors leading to trafficcrashes and data about behaviour in traffic observed for the area in each local
government.
 In 2016, the RTSA continued its safety analysis of each local community in Serbia(161 local communities). Safety analysis is based on road crash data, injuries andsafety performance indicators. The objective is to provide all local communities with abasic and common review so that they can quickly create measures based on thedata. Specific short reports on road safety have been prepared for each local
community.
 Since the start of 2016, collection of data on road crashes has been based on theEuropean Commission’s Common Accident Data Set (CADaS) protocol. Preparation foruse of the MAIS 3+ scale for injuries began in 2017.

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Road users
The RTSA conducts several road safety campaigns each year. In 2016, emphasis wasplaced on motorcycle safety, restraint system usage, driving under the influence ofalcohol, 65+ participants in traffic and the campaign “My Personal Story,” which used
testimony by victims disabled by road crashes.



Local communities hold locally-controlled funds designated for road safety
improvement. These communities organise individual programs in the fields of humanbehaviour and infrastructure development.



The RTSA manages two notable educational projects. The first concerns peer
education for future and young drivers in secondary school. The second, named “I’mstill driving”, organises paraplegics injured in road crashes to present the importanceof safe behaviour in road traffic via their personal experience. The RTSA also regularly
conducts education for children in elementary schools by means of a mascot,Pažljivko, who knows all the road traffic rules and behaves safely in traffic.



The RTSA has also introduced seminars for lecturers in pre-schools, primary andsecondary schools.

Infrastructure

The Republic of Serbia adopted the Law on Roads in 2018. This law introduces roadsafety inspections and audit processes and describes in detail the responsibilities andorganisation of these activities.



In 2018 and 2019, accompanying legal acts were adopted. The acts regulate the way
road safety audits and road safety inspections need to be conducted.

Definition, methodology, data collection
 Road fatality: any person who is killed immediately or within 30 days as a result of aroad crash.
Serbia has not yet adopted a definition for serious or slight injury in police records.
Nevertheless, criteria exist for both categories enabling doctors to determine the degreeof injury of a person involved in a road accident. In 2017, Serbia conducted research on
the options for implementing the Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale (MAIS3+) on thenumber of people injured in road crashes in Serbia. Establishment of a system forrecording injuries of road traffic accidents in accordance with the MAIS 3+ scale began in
mid-2019.
Data on road deaths have been available since 1981. More detailed information on roadcrashes is available from 1996 onward and is included in the police crash databaseestablished in 1996. The latest major revision of the road accident database wasconducted in 2015 and 2016. Following these revisions, the road accident database is© INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT FORUM/OECD 201911

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now completely harmonised with the European Commission’s Common Accident Data Set(CADaS) requirements and since January 2016 traffic police have been collecting data onroad crashes in accordance with the CADaS recommendations.
Traffic police must attend the scene of all fatal and injury road crashes and crashes with
important material damage. For other crashes, participants are allowed to fill in a special
form without calling traffic police. However, if one of the participants requests thepresence of the police, they are required to attend the crash scene. Data on crashes notcovered by the traffic police are collected by insurance companies.
Information on injury severity is recorded by the traffic police based on information from
hospitals. Hospitals are obliged to inform the police of every person admitted to hospital
claiming to have been involved in a road crash. There is no information on the level ofunderreporting.
A project entitled “New Road Crash Database”, funded by the World Bank, was finalisedin 2016. The main aim of the project was to connect all relevant road safety data holders
into an integrated database managed by the RTSA.
In Serbia, during 2018, a methodology for collecting data on the behaviour of road users
at the crossing of road-rail crossings was defined. The methodology will be used in a
future survey.
In 2019, RTSA starts the development of a project for defining a methodology formeasuring traffic exposure in Serbia. As part of the methodology definition, the RTSA
seeks to identify the most relevant and important indicators to be monitored for thisproject.

Resources
Recent research
Five important research projects were completed in 2018-2019: Measurement of road safety performance indicators (SPIs).
The RTSA in 2018 continued its on-going monitoring programme, started in 2013. The
2019 survey will be conducted in each of the 161 local governments in Serbia. In
2018, Serbia joined the ESRA countries team. Accordingly, at the end of 2018, an
ESRA2 survey of attitudes of traffic participants on traffic safety in Serbia wascompleted.
 Recording data on injuries in road crashes based on MAIS3+.
In response to the European Commission recommendation to collect MAIS3+ data,
research was undertaken on options for implementing the MAIS3+ injury scale. The
full scale implementation of this project started in 2019.

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 Professional development of road safety auditors and road safety inspectors.
In 2017, a program for the training and professional development of road safety
auditors and road safety inspectors was developed with the purpose of establishing asystem for certified auditors and inspectors in the Republic of Serbia. In 2018,
documentation was completed.
 In 2018, RTSA conducted a pilot project based on the methodology for collecting dataon the behaviour of road users at road-rail crossings.
 In 2018, RTSA conducted research on speeding on the main road network andmotorways.
Websites
Road Traffic Safety Agency of Serbia: http://www.abs.gov.rs/
Reports on road safety by local community: http://www.abs.gov.rs/analize-iistrazivanja/statistika-lokalne-samouprave/analiza-stanja-bezbednosti-saobracaja
Integrated road safety database: http://195.222.96.212/ibbsPublic/© INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT FORUM/OECD 201913

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Road safety and traffic data
2000

2010

2017

2018

2018 % change over
2017
2010
2000

Reported safety data
Fatalities

1 048

660

579

546

-5.7%

Injury crashes

12 74914 19714 75614 223

-3.6%

0.2%

11.6%

13.9

9.0

8.2

7.8

-5.2%

-13.7%-44.0%

..

3.6

2.4

2.2

-7.2%

-39.5%..

Pedestrians

315

172

141

151

7.1%

-12.2%-52.1%

Cyclists

129

65

48

38

-20.8%-41.5%-70.5%

Moped riders

40

20

10

11

10.0%

-45.0%-72.5%

Motorcyclists

29

48

47

39

-17.0%-18.8%

34.5%

Passenger car occupants

424

282

271

239

-11.8%-15.2%-43.6%

Other road users

111

73

62

65

4.8%

-11.0%-41.4%

0-14 years

43

24

17

12

-29.4%-50.0%-72.1%

15-17 years

21

8

8

12

50.0%

50.0%

-42.9%

18-20 years

50

31

15

24

60.0%

-22.6%-52.0%

21-24 years

89

50

25

38

52.0%

-24.0%-57.3%

25-64 years

587

389

349

302

-13.5%-22.4%-48.6%

65-74 years

181

64

91

75

-17.6%

17.2%-58.6%≥ 75 years

76

90

74

83

12.2%

-7.8%

9.2%

Urban roads

..

432

294

256

-12.9%-40.7%..

Rural roads

..

178

237

236

-0.4%

32.6%

..

Motorways

..

50

48

54

12.5%

8.0%

..

..

1 810

2 433

2 473

1.7%

36.6%

..

..

247.7

345.5

353.2

2.2%

42.6%

..

Deaths per 100,000 population
Deaths per 10,000 registeredvehiclesFatalities by road user

-17.3%-47.9%

Fatalities by age group

Fatalities by road type

Traffic data
Registered vehicles(thousands)
Registered vehicles per 1,000
population© INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT FORUM/OECD 201914