Romania is listed among the European states recording a high number of road accidents, according to a study published on Monday by the European Council for Transport Security, France Press agency quotes. Road accidents claimed around 39,000 lives last year on the EU's roads last year.

Against 2007, the figures dropped by 8.5%, but the EU wants to see the number of fatal accidents reduced to half. If the rhythm is maintained, the EU will need seven years to meet its aim.

The streets in Sweden, Great Britain and Switzerland (countries that are non-EU or partial EU member) are the safest in Europe, after the roads in Malta. Here there are less than 50 dead for each million citizens. Norway, Germany, Ireland, Finland, Spain, France, Denmark, Luxemburg and Italy are among the countries with a low rate of road accident fatal accidents.

On the other hand, Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Greece, Poland and Lithuania are close to 150 dead people in road accidents for each million citizens.

Several countries considered to have dangerous roads reduced the statistics considerably. Estonia is one of them: -33%, Lithuania: -33% and Slovenia: -27%. The European researchers explained that the improving is due to the economic crisis and to the increased fuel prices. Despite this, in Romania and Bulgaria, the rates have gone up.