13/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - At least 21,500 people lost their lives in Europe in 2009 in accidents on country roads, according to the latest report by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) published on Tuesday 12 October, ahead of the European Road Safety Days. This number, the ETSC stresses, represents 55% of the total number of people killed last year in road traffic accidents in Europe. Across the EU, around 32% of the people who died on rural roads were vulnerable road users: pedestrians (10%), cyclists (5%) and motorcyclists (17%). However, the ETSC adds that since 2001, when the assessment reports were launched, road safety has improved considerably (except for motorcyclists). Since then, France, Portugal and Luxembourg have seen the best results in bringing down the number of people killed on country roads, with an average reduction of 9% each. In the EU as a whole, only Bulgaria and Romania saw increases in fatal accidents, at around 2% and 7.5% respectively. (A.By./transl.fl)