The Ministry of Interior has emphasized that the true indicator of road safety lies not simply in the fines imposed, but in the lives saved and the serious incidents prevented. Traffic safety statistics for the first eight months of 2026 show a marked improvement, according to official data from the MOI.
Të lidhura
None found
Compared to the same period a year earlier, the number of fatalities has seen a significant decline. Specifically, from January to August 2025, 96 people lost their lives on the roads, while in 2026 this number dropped to 62. That means 34 fewer victims, which translates to a decrease of 35.42 percent.
Likewise, there is a noticeable contraction in the number of people injured. The data show that from 4,731 injured in 2025, the figure fell to 3,868 in 2026. This difference of 863 fewer people represents an 18.24 percent reduction in the total number of those affected by accidents.
The Ministry views these figures as tangible proof that a genuine and sustained strategy for improving traffic safety has yielded results. The total number of accidents has decreased by 11.76 percent, from 5,485 incidents to 4,840. Fatal accidents dropped from 82 to 54, marking a decline of 34.15 percent, while those causing serious bodily injuries fell by 11.11 percent, from 594 to 528 cases.
There has also been a decline in accidents resulting only in bodily injuries, which dropped from 2,291 to 1,896, a decrease of 17.24 percent. Even collisions causing only material damage saw a smaller decline of 6.20 percent, from 2,518 to 2,362 cases. Regarding persons with bodily injuries, we see a reduction of 21.09 percent, with 833 fewer affected, from 3,949 to 3,116. However, the figures for serious injuries remain almost unchanged: 686 in 2025 and 690 in 2026.
The importance of this progress becomes even clearer when we recall that for many consecutive years, the number of victims on our roads remained high. Starting from 2010 to 2025, each year recorded between 116 and 198 deaths from accidents. In 2019 and 2025, for example, 132 lives were lost each year. This shows that a stable and substantial improvement was missing for a long time.
The Ministry of Interior argues that this positive change during 2026 stems from a series of coordinated measures, including the implementation of the “Safe City” system, improvements to the legal framework, increased police checks, and ongoing preventive campaigns.
With the start of automatic fines through the “Safe City” system on 1 February 2026, a new philosophy for penalizing offenders was put in place. Now, violations are captured automatically, files are handled digitally, and citizens are notified by SMS or email. This is not just a technological advancement, but a reform of the entire enforcement mechanism. The old practice of sporadic checks is being replaced by continuous, predictable, and impartial oversight. This raises the certainty that a detected violation will be penalized, minimizes subjective interventions, and has a deterrent effect on driver behavior.
The figures for these first eight months demonstrate that this approach is bringing concrete changes. The Ministry of Interior confirms its commitment to continue improving and further expanding the “Safe City” system, along with other targeted measures, with the ultimate goal of fewer accidents, fewer injuries, and above all, fewer lives lost in road traffic.
