Thousands of Romanian pedestrian crossings remain dangerously dark four years after safety law

Thousands of pedestrian crossings in Romania continue to pose deadly risks in the dark, four years after a law required municipalities to illuminate them. Despite legal obligations for road administrators, the application of these safety measures varies drastically across the country, leaving pedestrian safety dependent on location.

Romania faces a critical road safety situation, recording the highest road fatality rate in the European Union with 78 deaths per million inhabitants, significantly higher than the EU average of approximately 44. In 2025 alone, the country experienced nearly 4,000 serious road accidents, resulting in over 1,200 deaths and more than 3,000 severe injuries. Pedestrians are among the most vulnerable road users, especially in urban and peri-urban areas where frequent crossings occur, often in conditions of poor visibility or inadequate infrastructure.

The disparity in implementation is evident even between major cities. Cluj-Napoca has integrated pedestrian crossing modernization into broader urban infrastructure projects, installing additional lighting systems and reconfiguring crossings near schools and busy boulevards for better visibility. Oradea has also undertaken public lighting modernization programs. However, in many smaller towns and certain counties, pedestrian crossings remain poorly lit, particularly on secondary roads or at town exits, despite being properly marked on the road surface.

This inconsistency is attributed not only to the size of a locality but also to its financial capacity, investment priorities, and how local administrations interpret legal obligations. The 2022 law aimed to establish a national, uniform standard for illuminating non-signalized pedestrian crossings on all roads within localities. In practice, however, the effectiveness and safety of these crossings remain unevenly distributed across Romania.