Rome: Road accidents in Italy saw a notable increase last year, with motorways experiencing a 6.9% rise in crashes and a 7.1% rise in fatalities compared to 2023. The national statistics agency, Istat, reported these figures on Thursday.

According to Ansa News Agency, road accidents overall increased by 4.1% in Italy during 2024. The country documented 173,364 road accidents resulting in injuries, with a total of 3,030 fatalities and 233,853 injuries. Istat highlighted that the most common driving errors were distraction, failure to yield, and speeding, which together accounted for 37.8% of all accidents, amounting to 85,339 cases. This pattern of driving behavior has remained consistent over time.

Speeding remains the second most penalized traffic violation following illegal parking, comprising 34% of all traffic offenses. While fines for not using seatbelts and child restraint systems saw a slight decline, there was an increase in penalties for not wearing helmets. Authorities continued to issue numerous fines for improper use of in-vehicle devices, and there was an uptick in fines for drug-impaired driving, although fines for drunk driving saw a slight decrease.

The social cost of road accidents involving injuries was estimated to be over 18 billion euros in 2024, nearly accounting for 1% of Italy’s national GDP, as reported by Istat.