The extent of underreporting in EU-countries

One of the main problems of national road accident data files is that not all injury accidents are reported to and recorded by the Police. Underreporting of accidents varies according to severity, vehicle type and casualty age. Underreporting is especially frequent in the following accident types: singe-vehicle accidents, pedestrian accidents and accidents involving bicycles, mopeds or motorcycles. When these characteristics are combined (.e.g. pedestrian-bicycle accident) the underreporting is highest. The underreporting of traffic fatalities varies from 5-12% in countries Germany, Netherlands, France. For Italy, the underreporting of traffic fatalities is estimated at 26%. Underreporting of hospitalised casualties is estimated to vary between 30 and 60%.