The 5th Annual PIN Conference, held by the European Transport Safety Council, found that the eight countries have have all made reductions of more than 50% in the number of deaths on their roads in the last 10 years.

The latest PIN report found that the three Baltic countries led the pack in reducing deaths since 2001: Latvia and Estonia have achieved 61% reductions, while Lithuania achieved 58%. They are followed by Spain (55%), Luxembourg (54%), France (51%), Sweden (50%) and Slovenia (50%).

Portugal, Ireland, Germany, the UK, Italy, Slovakia and Belgium have all achieved reduction figures better than the 43% EU average.

The ETSC also found that there has been an overall reduction of over 100,000 deaths since 2001, with the benefits to society estimated at €176bn.

'These figures show the immense value to society of working to make using the roads safer. The potential for saving is far from being exhausted, particularly as important safety measures remain to be fully implemented, or are still being developed. If we are able to reach the EU 2020 target the further benefit to society could be an additional €182 billion,' said Richard Allsop, PIN Programme chairman.