Seven young people lost their lives today in Romania, on a highway that Romanians call “drumul morții” – the road of death. The deceased were Greek PAOK fans, aged 28 to 30, traveling from Greece to Lyon to support their team in the Europa League match. The tragic accident once again brought into the spotlight one of Europe’s most dangerous roads, which claims dozens of lives every year.
The tragic accident: What happened on the DN6 highway
On Tuesday afternoon, October 27, at 1:05 PM local time, a van carrying 10 Greek PAOK fans was involved in a fatal traffic accident on the DN6, in the Lugojel area near Lugoj, in Romania’s Timiș County.
According to preliminary information from Romanian authorities, the 29-year-old van driver attempted a dangerous overtaking maneuver. While trying to return to his lane, the vehicle clipped a tanker truck and was then thrown into oncoming traffic, where it collided head-on with a truck (TIR) that was legally traveling in its lane.
The result was devastating: six people were killed on the spot (the driver and five passengers), while a seventh succumbed to his injuries at Lugoj Hospital despite doctors’ desperate efforts. Three more passengers were taken to hospital with injuries. The deceased came from Katerini, Alexandria Imathias, and Western Thessaloniki.
DN6: Romania’s “road of death”
Drumul Național 6 (DN6) is one of Romania’s main national roads, connecting Bucharest with the western Banat region, continuing toward Hungary and Serbia. It crosses major cities including Alexandria, Caracal, Craiova, Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Caransebeș, Lugoj, and Timișoara.
Despite its importance as a major international corridor, DN6 has earned the sinister reputation of “drumul morții” (road of death) in Romania. Romanian media covering today’s tragedy report that over 320 accidents have been recorded in this specific area of Timiș County in the past year – a terrifying statistic that justifies its terrible nickname.
The grim statistics: 60-70 deaths every year
According to data from car rental companies and road safety organizations operating in Romania, DN6 has an annual death toll of 60-70 people, making it one of the five most dangerous roads in the country.
On Romania’s blacklist of roads, DN6 ranks behind DN1 (90-100 deaths annually), DN7 (80-90 deaths), and DN2 (70-80 deaths), but ahead of DN17 (50-60 deaths). These five roads account for the majority of fatal traffic accidents in Romania.
To understand the severity of the problem, it’s worth noting that Romania holds the grim distinction of ranking first in the European Union for road traffic deaths. In 2024, the country recorded 77-78 deaths per million inhabitants, nearly double the EU average of 44 deaths per million.
In total, approximately 1,478 people lost their lives in traffic accidents in Romania in 2024, representing 7.4% of all road deaths in the EU – a disproportionately high percentage for a country with a population of just 19 million.
Why is DN6 so dangerous?
Experts identify multiple factors that make DN6 particularly deadly:
1. Driver behavior
The main causes of accidents on DN6, according to Romanian traffic police, are:
– Excessive speed
– Dangerous overtaking (as in today’s tragedy)
– Driving under the influence of alcohol
– High traffic congestion
– Romanian drivers, according to studies, are often careless behind the wheel, drive at excessive speeds, make reckless overtaking maneuvers, and don’t respect traffic lights or road signs.
2. Poor road infrastructure
Many roads in Romania, including DN6, are outdated, inadequately maintained, and poorly marked. Problems include:
– Insufficient road signage
– Missing or defective guardrails
– Single lanes per direction without median barriers
– Absence of emergency lanes
– Intersections within populated areas
3. Lack of highways
Romania significantly lags in developing modern highways. The absence of safe alternative routes forces all traffic – from passenger cars to heavy trucks – to share the same two-way roads, dramatically increasing the risk of head-on collisions.
DN6 is a typical national road with two or three lanes that crosses cities and villages, without separation of traffic flows and with many intersections and level crossings that aren’t always properly marked.
4. High commercial vehicle traffic
As a main corridor connecting Bucharest to the Hungarian and Serbian borders, DN6 hosts enormous volumes of trucks and tankers. The mixing of fast-moving passenger vehicles with slow trucks on roads without separation creates high-risk situations.
Romania: Europe’s road death champion
The numbers are shocking. Romania maintains the highest road death rate in the European Union, with 77 deaths per million inhabitants in 2024, according to preliminary European Commission data.
Comparatively, the EU average was 44 deaths per million, while Sweden – the safest country – recorded just 20 deaths per million. Denmark follows with 24 deaths. At the other end of the scale, Romania and Bulgaria (74 deaths/million) have nearly quadruple the rates of the safest countries.
Despite a 4% improvement compared to 2023 and 21% compared to 2019, Romania remains the most dangerous EU country for driving.
The crosses on the roadside
One of the most haunting features of Romanian roads is the thousands of crosses that line the roadsides. Each cross represents a lost life – an eternal reminder of the mortality that lurks around every corner.
Local communities and victims’ families tend to these crosses, keeping alive the memory of their loved ones. Each year, new crosses are added while older ones fall due to rain and time – a silent but eloquent witness to the ongoing tragedy.
The cost of “drumul morții”: Over 2,000 deaths annually
In total, over 2,000 people die annually on Romanian roads, with more than 40,000 seriously injured – the highest numbers in Europe in absolute terms for a country of this size.
In 2025, according to Romanian Police, 3,950 accidents were recorded nationally, resulting in 1,293 deaths and 3,125 serious injuries by year-end.
The main causes of serious traffic accidents in 2025 were:
– Illegal crossing (16.1% of total)
– Failure to adapt speed to road conditions (15.3%)
– Failure to yield right of way to vehicles (9.5%)
– Other dangerous roads in Romania
DN6 is not the only “road of death” in Romania. Other equally dangerous roads include:
– DN1 (Bucharest – Oradea): The longest and most deadly road in the country with 90-100 deaths annually. It crosses the Prahova Valley, one of Romanians’ favorite weekend and winter holiday destinations, passing through mountain resorts Sinaia, Busteni, Azuga, and Predeal.
– DN7 (Pitesti – Sibiu): Passes through the Carpathian Mountains with 80-90 deaths annually. Dangerous curves, excessive speed, and difficult weather conditions contribute to accidents.
DN2 (Bucharest – Moldova): Connects the capital with Moldova and the Ukrainian border in the northeast, with 70-80 deaths per year.
E85/DN2 (Bucharest – Ukraine border): Referred to as Romania’s deadliest road in some studies, with nearly one in three of the country’s fatal accidents occurring on it.
