Study Reveals Safest European Countries For Driving A Rental Car

When on vacation in Europe it often makes sense to hire a rental car to easily get around. However, driving in unfamiliar territory can be a little daunting. However, a new report has been revealed, ranking the safest countries in Europe to drive a car. Moreover, it also lists the countries where driving around is the most dangerous. Which European countries are you visiting this year? Are you planning to hire a car? Read on to find out if this is feasible.

Which countries in Europe are safest for driving a rental car?

Luckily, most European countries do, at least, drive on the right side of the road, except for the UK, where you have to drive on the left (see below). This can be nerve-wracking at the best of times, but it turns out not all countries in Europe are safe to drive a rental car.

Moreover, most EU countries have an efficient public transportation service that makes it easier to travel from one attraction to the next. However, should you prefer to explore under your own steam, the Europe Transport Safety Council has released a report, titled the “Safety Performance Index (PIN).

The report ranks the countries based on data gathered in each country and based on that data, Norway is listed as the safest nation for car rental users. Norway was deemed the safest, with only 20 road deaths per million residents. Staying in Scandinavia, the next in line in the 2023 safety ranking was Sweden, with just 22 deaths per million people.

In the next highest-ranked countries for road safety, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland and the UK all tied at 35 deaths per million residents. Moreover, it seems the average mortality from driving throughout Europe was listed as 46 deaths per million people in 2023, which is good news. In fact, this number is lower than the 55 deaths per million when the report was first released in 2013, making Europe pretty much a safe destination for driving overall.

As a side note, the average road mortality rate throughout the EU for 2023 was 46 deaths per million inhabitants. And that’s a decline from 55 deaths per million inhabitants from when the report began back in 2013 – meaning it’s getting safer to drive in Europe.

Which EU countries have the most dangerous roads?

Having found out the safest countries to rent a car and drive around without concern, now we look at the least safe countries ranked in the report.

Coming in at the top of the list of countries with the highest mortality rates from driving are Bulgaria and Romania, which see 82 and 81 deaths per million people respectively. Meanwhile, according to the report, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Spain feature a mortality rate that was higher than back in 2013.

Slovakia and the Netherlands have both experienced a 20 percent rise in their road death rate during the decade, while Spain is lower, with a 6 percent increase.

Reader, have you hired a rental car in Europe? Which countries did you visit and how did you find the experience of driving? Let us know by dropping a comment below.