Skip to main content

Eastern Europe has the most noxious drivers in the continent

The Czech Republic has the highest levels of toxic emissions caused by drivers, in a study of 25 European countries conducted by The Eco Experts. It found that Poland, Estonia, Croatia and Slovakia ranked in the top five counties for noxious drivers, making Eastern Europe the most toxic region in the continent. Czech drivers ranked the highest for using old and poor quality cars that are just over 14 years old. Results also showed that the number of cars powered by sustainable fuel alternatives is at 0.7
March 29, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
The Czech Republic has the highest levels of toxic emissions caused by drivers, in a study of 25 European countries conducted by The Eco Experts. It found that Poland, Estonia, Croatia and Slovakia ranked in the top five counties for noxious drivers, making Eastern Europe the most toxic region in the continent.


Czech drivers ranked the highest for using old and poor quality cars that are just over 14 years old. Results also showed that the number of cars powered by sustainable fuel alternatives is at 0.7%, which is nearly 22 times less than Poland.

Poland came second for having the most toxic drivers in Europe. However, the inquiry also revealed that the country has the highest proportion of alternative fuel vehicles at 15%. These figures, according to The Eco Experts, suggests that the country’s efforts to combat its high air pollution levels are heavily dependent on the roll out of sustainably powered vehicles.

The initiative cross-referenced data for the percentage of alternative fuel cars, average vehicle age, the number of vehicles per 1,000 people and ambient air pollution. Individual rankings were then combined to give an overall impression of the countries that have the most toxic motorists.

Fran Whittaker-Wood of The Eco Experts said: “Road transport is one of the biggest sources of air pollution and although our research shows that poor quality vehicles is the biggest contributing factor to toxic driving emissions, the reality is that most people can’t afford to replace their cars with sustainable alternatives because they are just too expensive. If governments are serious about cutting driver pollution levels then more needs to be done to make these cars affordable to everyone.”

Sweden ranked in first place overall for having Europe’s greenest motorists. Additional findings are available %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external here false https://blog.theecoexperts.co.uk/most-toxic-drivers-europe false false%>.

Related Content

  • SwRI sponsors ITS America with $1,000 student essay competition
    February 14, 2018
    Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) is inviting U.S. students to take part in an essay competition to share their visions for the future of transportation with a $1,000 (£720) prize and a trip to ITS America 2018, in Detroit, from the 4-7 June. It is aimed at providing students an opportunity to apply their knowledge in a thought-provoking manner. The topic, ‘How do you envision disruptive consumer technology will affect transportation systems over the next 10 years?’ is open to transportation, engineering
  • Call for contributions open for ITS World Congress 2020
    August 8, 2019
    The International Program Committee is inviting ITS experts to submit their contributions for papers and special interest sessions for the 2020 ITS World Congress in Los Angeles. Focusing on ‘The New Age of Mobility’, contributors will be prompted to select up to three technologies including artificial intelligence/machine learning, automated vehicle, connected vehicle, cybersecurity, alternative fuels, emissions, rural, smart city and truck operations. These technologies fit into eight programme the
  • Lyft ramps up driver and passenger safety efforts
    September 19, 2019
    Ride-share firm Lyft is seeking to head off concerns over passenger safety by requiring its drivers to take a ‘community safety’ course. Lyft has partnered with non-profit anti-sexual assault organisation Rainn, and drivers will be required to complete an education course designed by both parties. Riders and drivers must agree to Lyft’s community guidelines on behaving with care and respect. Passengers reported for violating these will be removed from the platform while drivers will be required to take add
  • Inrix: Congestion cost UK motorists over £37bn in 2017
    February 12, 2018
    The UK is the third most congested country in Europe and the tenth most congested country in the world where costs amounted to more than £37.7bn ($52.2bn) for all drivers in 2017, an average of £1,168 ($2,233) per person. These findings come from Inrix’s annual Global Traffic Scorecard which analysed and ranked the impact of traffic congestion in 1,360 cities across 38 countries. London remained the UK’s most congested major city for the tenth consecutive year as drivers spent an average of 74 hours in