Position Paper: Revision of the General Safety Regulation

26,300 people lost their lives on EU roads in 2015 compared to 25,970 in 2014, representing an increase of 1% and the second consecutive poor year for road safety. In 2014, more than 135,000 people were recorded as seriously injured. However, the long term safety trend has been positive, especially so for car occupants who have benefited more than other road users from road safety measures adopted over the past decade.

The figures of the past years would have been significantly higher had it not been for the measures already taken by the EU to mandate improvements in vehicle passive and active safety, most recently in 2009 in the last revision of the General Safety Regulation.

As the EU has exclusive competence on vehicle safety measures and vehicle type approval under Article 114 of the EU treaty, these legally-binding tools represent the most direct and effective measures the EU has at its disposal to further reduce deaths and injuries on the road.