DUBLIN – November 05, 2026 -- Harsh driving events per trip vary more than fivefold across seven European capitals, from 225 per 1,000 trips in Berlin to 1,191 in Paris, according to new road safety findings from Geotab's European Urban Freight Efficiency Index. The analysis covers GPS-derived harsh acceleration, braking and cornering events from more than 130 million trips by Geotab-connected vehicles in 2025.
Madrid and Paris run at roughly one harsh event per trip
Berlin records the fewest events, followed by Dublin (315), Amsterdam (356), Rome (393) and London (462). Madrid (1,088) and Paris (1,191) sit far above the rest. The gap is 5.3 times between Berlin and Paris and 4.8 times between Berlin and Madrid.
The mix of event types differs by city. Harsh acceleration makes up 79% of Paris events and 69% of Madrid events, while Berlin and London split more evenly between acceleration and braking. Amsterdam and Rome show the highest cornering shares (34% and 27%), though braking is their largest category (37% and 40%).
Geotab says acceleration-heavy profiles tend to respond to driver coaching and in-cab feedback. Profiles built on braking and cornering more often point to junction design and routing.
Safety rankings track efficiency scores with two exceptions
The four cities with the highest efficiency scores (Berlin, Amsterdam, Dublin and Rome) are the four with the fewest harsh events per trip. Paris, London and Madrid, the three lowest-scoring cities, have the three highest rates.
Paris has the highest rate despite scoring 37 on efficiency, above London (29) and Madrid (25). London's rate is less than half of Madrid's despite its score of 29. London also logged 31.4 million harsh events in 2025 in absolute terms, second only to Madrid's 32.1 million.
Amsterdam's A4 approach to Schiphol holds 13.7% of city events
Amsterdam has the most concentrated hotspot pattern in the study. Three areas on the A4 approach to Schiphol airport hold 13.7% of the city's harsh events, and the busiest alone holds 6.3%, more than double the top area in any other city. Cornering makes up 46% to 78% of events in those areas.
In Dublin, all three of the busiest areas sit on the Naas Road (N7) corridor through Walkinstown and Drimnagh, holding 2.3%, 1.9% and 1.4% of events. In the worst of them, 71% of events are harsh cornering. Geotab says routing that avoids the stretch at peak times is likely to reduce exposure without any change to the road.
London shows the opposite pattern. Its busiest area, around Kennington, holds just 0.6% of events. In Berlin, Madrid, Paris and Rome the busiest area holds between 1.7% and 2.6%.
Berlin sets the baseline at 225 events per 1,000 trips
Berlin splits events between acceleration (45%) and braking (44%), with cornering at 10%. Its busiest areas, around Spandauer Damm in Charlottenburg, in Spandau and in Westend, each hold about 2% of events. Geotab attributes the low rate partly to the city's polycentric layout.
Rome ranks fourth on efficiency despite the worst congestion score in the study. Its rate sits below London's, which Geotab says suggests slow but continuous traffic can be safer than stop-start conditions.
Madrid logs 886,000 events at 05:00, its quietest hour
Madrid's events peak at 11:00, and its top three areas along the Paseo del Prado, the Paseo de la Castellana and the M-30 are almost tied at 1.7%, 1.7% and 1.6%. Madrid scores 25 on efficiency, the lowest of the seven, so fleets there have limited off-peak windows to schedule around the pressure.
Paris events peak at 19:00, later than in any other city. Braking accounts for 15% of Paris events and cornering for 6.5%. The busiest area sits near the Porte de la Chapelle interchange in the 18th arrondissement (1.8%). Geotab says coaching is a sensible first step for fleets there.
Geotab advises setting driver targets city by city
A driver logging 1,000 harsh events per 1,000 trips is close to the average in Madrid but well above Berlin's average of 225. Geotab argues targets should be set against the city a vehicle operates in, not a single figure for every market.
Edward Kulperger, Senior Vice President, EMEA at Geotab, said: "A harsh event rate only means something when you know which city the driver is working in." He added that video telematics can supply the context behind individual events for coaching conversations.
Index scores combine traffic flow and idling, with safety reported separately
The index scores each city from 0 to 100, with passenger vehicles and trucks weighted 60/40. Traffic flow accounts for 75% of each vehicle score and mid-trip idling for the remaining 25%. Safety findings are expressed per 1,000 trips, and hotspot figures show the share of a city's harsh events within each geohash grid cell.