Towards a Vision Zero for Road Safety in Europe
MARCH 28, 2011Back to News Room
Taken from ETSC: http://etsc.eu/
28 March 2011, Brussels – “We welcome what may be a new era in European road safety. We support the European Commission’s approach to include safety as an underlying theme of the White Paper on Competitive and Resource Efficient Transport,” declared ETSC Executive Director Antonio Avenoso after the adoption of the European Commission’s Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area – Towards a competitive and resource efficient transport system. “It is encouraging that in several aspects the White Paper goes further than last year’s Road Safety Policy Orientations.”
Including a ‘Vision Zero’ for road safety is a new and potentially ground-breaking goal for 2050, complementing the renewed target of halving road deaths by 2020. ETSC also urges the Commission to accelerate its work on a common definition of serious road injuries and adopt a target for reducing these. For every road death in the EU, at least 44 road injuries are recorded, eight of which are classified as serious. “Highlighting behavioural risk factors such as driving distraction, or driving under the influence of drugs and medicines, shows insight on behalf of the Commission, but we warn that one of the most widely recognised risky behaviours – drink driving – must not be overlooked,” Mr. Avenoso added. “Measures to address drink driving, such as a lower limit for novice and professional drivers and fitting of alcohol interlocks, would save many lives.
“ETSC is delighted the European Commission recognised that: “reducing speed is an extremely effective way to reduce not only the risk of collisions but also fuel consumption,” particularly as this approach enjoys the support of the European public. Promoting eco-driving and in-vehicle systems that ‘provide real-time information on prevailing speed limits’ will also contribute to improving compliance with speed limits. “Europe needs action to tackle speeding. This is the number one killer on Europe’s roads. The European Commission shied away from recommending uniform maximum speed limits for our roads. While the White Paper mentions the need to harmonise and deploy road safety technologies, we consider the Commission should have shown stronger leadership in promoting Intelligent Speed Assistance Systems,” Mr. Avenoso explained. Reducing speeds across the EU by just 1 km on average could save 2,200 lives every year.
“Hard work will be required to achieve this ambitious new Vision Zero goal. ETSC will look forward to the [European] Commission’s implementation of the new measures included in the White Paper,” Mr. Avenoso concluded.
For more information please contact ETSC Communications Officer Mircea Steriu at mircea.steriu@etsc.eu, or Policy Director Ellen Townsend at ellen.townsend@etsc.eu,
tel. +32 (0)2 230.41.06