Traffic deaths

The calculation of the number of people annually killed in traffic accidents in the Netherlands is based on three different sources: data from cause of death forms completed by a doctor, district court dossiers in the case of non-natural death and police accident reports. As these sources are linked and integrated, lacking information can be retrieved from the separate data bases.

The results of this  integrative approach of traffic fatalities has been available since calendar year 1996. Series referring to earlier years can be obtained from the National Agency for Waterways and Public Works, which is part of the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment. These time series are solely based on police accident reports.

According to the definition, a person is killed in a traffic accident if they die as a result of a sudden event occurring on a public road on Dutch soil, involving at least one moving vehicle.

A deceased person is not included in the category of traffic deaths if:

• the accident occurs at a location closed to public and other traffic;
• the accident occurs on a part of a train or tramway track, which is not part of the public road and can only be used by trains or trams;
• the victim dies after 30 or more days after the accident took place;
• the deceased has already been classified as a ‘murder’ or ‘suicide’ victim.

Last year, 34 of the 570 traffic fatalities on Dutch roads were not registered as residents of the Netherlands, e.g. foreigners who came to the Netherlands for work or holidays. The number of deaths in this group is approximately the same as in prior years.

Today, the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment will also publish a press release. Both press releases include data calculated by Statistics Netherlands and the National Agency for Waterways and Public Works.