Every year, black spots are formed on the roads of Lithuania – concentrated places of traffic accidents. Black spots are road sections where traffic accidents are concentrated, according to the currently valid methodology, a black spot is determined if there have been four or more traffic accidents in the last four years in which people were killed or injured during a traffic accident.
“In Lithuania, we have been identifying black spots on roads for more than 15 years, this number is decreasing every year. in 2024 – no exception. We are very happy that we have succeeded in reducing black spots on the roads. We hope that the owner of roads of state importance will take urgent measures to remove dangerous places and thus we will achieve the goals set by Vizia 0 faster,” says Evaldas Morkūnas, head of the Transport Services Department.
Dangerous stretches are formed due to existing road safety deficiencies and traffic accidents tend to repeat themselves, so it is very important to carry out detailed investigations of each accident site and eliminate the causes of the risk of these accidents as soon as possible. TKA traffic safety specialists conduct such studies every year and offer measures to eliminate problems.
As a result of the research, it was found that:
At the identified 16 black spot intersections and 17 sections, twelve people died and 196 road users were injured;
13 out of 33 black spots were caused by traffic accidents caused by drunken, unlicensed drivers or road users who left the scene of the accident;
At intersections, the most common pattern of traffic accidents (25 percent of all traffic accidents) is left-turning (turning) collisions, and at sections – 41 percent. consists of entrances for pedestrians or bicycles;
87 percent on country roads. all injured road users include vehicle drivers and passengers. 45 percent in settlements. traffic accidents occur with the most vulnerable road users;
Most often, there are deficiencies in pedestrian crossings, unsafe left turns and failure to ensure the safety of all road users at intersections regulated by traffic lights;
in 2024 losses to the Lithuanian economy caused by the identified black spots due to injured road users amount to 10.33 million. euro
For each black spot, TKA experts made suggestions for improving traffic safety.
Let’s be safe and keep each other safe on the roads.
Reference to 2024 a map of black spots with recommendations for drivers is available here.
