Letter: Calling on the EU institutions to agree a deal on new vehicle safety standards

19 March 2019

Dear representatives of the Council, the Romanian Presidency, the European Parliament and the
Commission,

On 25 March, the Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission will take part in
the trilogue negotiations on the package of vehicle safety and pedestrian protection measures known
as the General Safety Regulation.

These measures represent a historic, once-in-a-generation opportunity to dramatically reduce the
scourge of death and serious injury on Europe’s roads. Not since the introduction of mandatory
seatbelt laws, has such a change been possible.

The European Commission’s official impact assessment conservatively estimates these measures will
prevent 25,000 deaths and 140,000 serious injuries over the period 2021-2037.

In particular the measures will help address the safety of vulnerable road users in urban areas, a
group which has not benefited from past vehicle safety measures as much as vehicle occupants.
We would like to thank the EU institutions for the hard work that has been done so far to reach a
final agreement on this legislation before the European elections in May.

We strongly urge you to do what it takes to get a final deal done next week that does not
compromise on safety.

A decade has gone by since the last major update of EU vehicle safety legislation. With the number
of deaths on EU roads stagnating in recent years, we cannot afford the delay that a failure to agree a
deal next week would bring.

Yours sincerely,

Antonio Avenoso, Executive Director, European Transport Safety Council (ETSC)
William Todts, Executive Director, Transport & Environment (T&E)
Adam Bodor, Advocacy Director, European Cyclists Federation (ECF)
Jeannot Mersch, President, European Federation of Road Traffic Victims (FEVR)
Geert van Waeg, President, International Federation of Pedestrians (IFP)
Sigrid de Vries, Secretary General, European Association of Automotive Suppliers (CLEPA)
Paolo Cestra, President, the European Traffic Police Network (TISPOL)
Anna-Lisa Boni, Secretary General, EUROCITIES
Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General, POLIS – Cities and Regions for Transport Innovation
Stephen Russell, Secretary General, ANEC – The European consumer voice in standardisation
Christophe Nicodème, Director General, European Union Road Federation (ERF)
David Ward, President and CEO, Towards Zero Foundation
Mary Williams, CEO, Brake –the road safety charity, UK
Prof. Oliver Carsten, University of Leeds, UK