The concept and vision of Moldova’s National Road Safety Programme 2025-2030 has been developed in alignment with the Global Plan of the second UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 and the EU Road Safety Policy Framework 2021-2030. It takes an evidence-based approach, backed up by data, to implement an integrated Safe System Approach to road safety including road safety management, safe road infrastructure, safe vehicles, safe road users and post-crash response/care.

When, in 2010, the United Nations declared its first Decade of Action on Road Safety 2011-2020, Moldova was among the first signatories pledging their support for the target of reducing the number of road deaths by 50% by 2020. A new National Strategy for Road Safety was approved by the Moldovan Parliament in December 2010. It is a great tribute to the country that of the 193 member states of the United Nations, Moldova was one of just 25 countries to come close to achieving the UN target. The number of road deaths in Moldova fell by 48% over the decade from 2011-2021 – a tremendous achievement.

Moldova’s success was built upon the five pillars of the United Nations Road Safety Action Plan and an evidence-based approach.

However, Moldova continues faces a number of challenges on its roads with up to 20 people losing their lives or being seriously injured each week. Annually, these losses cost the economy up to 3.7% of GDP in lost taxes, direct costs and lost economic production. The country’s vehicle fleet is growing at an unprecedented rate. In 2023, the number of new cars registered was up 27% compared with 2022. This puts increasing strain on road infrastructure.

To address these challenges, in May 2023, Dorin Recean, Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova ordered the development of a new National Road Safety Programme.

From the outset it was agreed that the Programme would be based firmly on the Safe System Approach and guided by available data and stakeholder input from across all relevant government ministries and implementing agencies, including civil society. This approach identified four ‘strategic focus areas’ upon which the document is structured:

Speed

Speeding is a factor in over half of all fatal collisions in Moldova, and more than 30% of all injury collisions.

Pedestrians

Nearly 40% of people killed in road crashes and 30% of those injured are pedestrians – the biggest group among all road casualties.

Drink-driving

Driving under the influence of alcohol is responsible for more than one in ten road fatalities in Moldova. While drink-driving incidents have decreased by over one third since 2014, there are still far too many people posing a risk due to alcohol.

Young people

Over half of all people injured on our roads (54%) are under age 25. Young people aged 18-24 are most at risk.

The use of data is critical to identifying gaps, setting priorities, monitoring progress, and ensuring accountability. Moreover, as resources for road safety are not unlimited, expenditure must be prioritised based on evidence of what will be most effective for tackling road death and injury.

Having reliable and comprehensive data for policy development and evaluation is essential for good road safety management. Moldova’s approach therefore also includes targets to improve road safety data collection and analysis. Working with the EaP RSO, Moldova has committed to aligning road safety data more closely with standards required by the Common Accident Data Set (CADaS), recommended for EU member states.

This will support informed decision making around road safety and ensure effective countermeasures to prevent future road incidents are in place.

Results

Moldova has developed a comprehensive and realistic programme to reduce road death and serious injury on the country’s roads. Already, it has become one of the first countries in the world to implement a policy of 30km/h speed limits in urban areas as recommended by the United Nations.

These steps have been recognised internationally by the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration and the World Health Organisation. The Automobile Club of Moldova was awarded the FIA President’s Award for Road Safety in 2023 and Prince Michael International Road Safety Award in 2024 for their contributions to the reduction of speed limits in the country.

Lessons learned

There is a big difference between developing a good road safety strategy on paper, and seeing it implemented to good effect in practice. Moldova’s Programme has therefore been deliberately developed in partnership with the key implementing agencies relevant to road safety management and based on data to ensure accountability. All members of the National Council for Road Traffic Safety were involved in the development, including those from civil society. This was essential to securing buy in and a commitment to the Programme’s implementation.