About Us

Our mission

The European Transport Safety Council is the independent voice for road safety in Europe. 

We are a non-profit international organisation, with members from across Europe, dedicated to reducing deaths and injuries in transport.

Founded in 1993 in Brussels, we provide an impartial source of expert advice on transport safety matters to the European Commission, the European Parliament, international organisations, and national governments.

Vision

Underpinning our work are two concepts.  Firstly, ‘Vision Zero’ i.e., that we should end road deaths and severe injuries while increasing safe, healthy, sustainable and equitable mobility for all.

Secondly, the ‘Safe System approach’: a widely accepted strategy for road injury prevention that acknowledges that while human error on the road is inevitable, death or serious injuries resulting from a crash are not.  Many crashes involving driver error also involve other critical factors such as design-induced weaknesses in vehicles and infrastructure. 

The Safe System approach is based on an understanding that effective road injury prevention is achieved through the interdependence and multiplier effects of various policy measures and a well-balanced set of effective interventions. The six ‘road-safety pillars’ of the Safe System Approach are road safety management, safe roads, safe vehicles, safe speeds, safe road-user behaviour and post-crash care. 

What we do

We proactively identify and promote effective safety strategies, measures and policies that are science and evidence-based, and that offer the greatest potential for reducing death and injury.  We publish reports and briefings, organise events, talk directly to policymakers and stakeholders and share news and best practices through our website, newsletters and social media.

Expertise

We bring together hundreds of internationally renowned transport safety experts from across Europe and beyond.  We work with a diverse membership of European organisations that include road safety agencies, NGOs, universities and victim advocacy groups.

Funding

To maintain our independence, ETSC is funded from a variety of sources including membership subscriptions, the European Commission, the European Parliament and public and private sector support.  A full list of funding sources is published in the European Union Transparency Register.

Statutes

Board of directors

Professor Walter Eichendorf
President

Professor Herman De Croo
Honorary President

Manfred Wirsch
German Road Safety Council (DVR)

Barry Sheerman MP
PACTS, UK

Christian Schimanofsky
KFV, Austria

Jindřich Frič
CDV, Czechia

Pasi Anteroinen
Liikenneturva, Finland

Observers
Dieter-Lebrecht Koch
Former Member of the European Parliament

Professor Pieter van Vollenhoven