News
Antonio Avenoso Executive Director, European Transport Safety Council Road collisions, especially those without death or serious injury, rarely make for global news headlines. Except of course when a member of the British royal family is involved. Commentators have been quick to place the blame for last week’s collision involving the Duke of Edinburgh’s SUV and a Kia Carens MPV. The culprits include an elderly driver, speed limits that were too high and glare caused by the sun. An in-depth crash investigation by a professional […]
New EU rules covering road infrastructure safety and minimum vehicle safety standards moved a step closer today, following approval by a key committee of MEPs in the European Parliament. The European Transport Safety Council welcomed the progress and is calling for the EU to reach a final deal on both pieces of legislation as soon as possible. The European Parliament’s Transport committee voted to approve an update to rules governing road infrastructure safety management. The existing requirements ensure governments carry out regular road safety […]
The Volkswagen group sold vehicles in Europe that did not have valid type approval certificates according to an investigation by Der Spiegel, a German newspaper. Meanwhile Which?, a British consumer organisation, has strongly criticised the way the company communicated with new and existing owners about a potentially dangerous seatbelt fault affecting the VW Polo, Seat Ibiza and Seat Arona models. From 2006 to 2018, Volkswagen sold around 6,700 test cars in Europe and the US, a VW spokesman said, confirming German media reports. The […]
The Spanish Minister of the Interior Fernando Grande-Marlaska has announced that the country’s directorate general for road traffic is working on a plan to reduce urban speed limits to a default of 30 km/h and is also planning to lower the 100 km/h out of town limit. The plans, which also include new measures to improve the safety of vulnerable road users, were announced at an international conference organised by ETSC’s Spanish member the Mapfre Foundation. The minister said that the urban speed limit […]
One year after the official launch of its “Ville Prudente” (Safer Towns) label, ETSC’s French member Association Prévention Routière and its partners have unveiled the names of the first 134 municipalities to receive the label. The label rewards municipalities, regardless of their size, that develop an active road safety policy “in order to improve the safety and quality of life of their inhabitants”. The organisation has also published the results of a survey on attitudes to road safety in French towns. Association Prévention Routière […]
A new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) has indicated that road traffic deaths continue to rise, and now stand at an annual 1.35 million fatalities. The WHO Global status report on road safety 2018 says road traffic injuries are now the leading killer of children and young people aged 5-29 years. “These deaths are an unacceptable price to pay for mobility,” said WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “There is no excuse for inaction. This is a problem with proven solutions. This […]
Industry and transport ministers from the 28 EU Member States have set out their official responses to three key pieces of road safety legislation. ETSC welcomed the position of the Council of the EU on new vehicle safety measures but is worried that new rules on road infrastructure safety management and revised professional driver working hour regulations will be weakened unless the European Parliament argues successfully for a stronger position in upcoming negotiations. ETSC warmly welcomed the endorsement by EU ministers of industry of a new […]
Government ministers from five EU member states, together with MEPs from the largest political groups in the European Parliament have lent their support to ETSC’s campaign for the EU to back the full range of vehicle safety measures proposed by the European Commission in May. Among the MEPs to pledge their backing are Roza Thun, the conservative (EPP) member responsible for shepherding the proposals through the Parliament’s internal market committee (IMCO) and her counterpart on the transport (TRAN) committee Matthijs van Miltenburg from the […]
The new version of the Ford Focus, one of Europe’s most popular cars, will feature Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) as standard, it has emerged. The system, which Ford launched three years ago on its high–end S-Max and Galaxy models, will now be installed on every Ford Focus, which currently sells for as little as EUR 16,500 in Belgium. A Ford executive has previously told a road safety event in Dublin, organised by ETSC and RSA, that the system was taken as an option on […]
ETSC gathered experts from several EU countries at an event in Madrid last month to discuss best practice in emergency response after road collisions. Access to collision sites, extraction techniques and the structure of emergency response systems were covered in an event that brought together emergency response specialists from Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. Presentations and a summary of the event, part of ETSC’s REVIVE project, can be downloaded from the ETSC website.
ETSC is warning that a weakened version of new EU road infrastructure safety rules, set to be agreed by national ministers of transport on Monday, will do little to improve road safety. ETSC is calling for MEPs in the European Parliament to demand more wide-ranging and effective rules when negotiations begin on the final legislation early next year. In a text set to be approved at the Transport Council meeting in Brussels, EU Member States have introduced weaker language on three key elements of […]
ETSC has joined with the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) and the European Federation of Road Traffic Victims (FEVR) in urging the EU institutions to give full priority to road safety when revising the EU driving and rest time rules. In particular, the statement calls for there to be no relaxation of the rules for buses and coaches. The statement is signed by: Robert Parillo, President, ETF Road Transport Section Jeannot Mersch, President FEVR, European Federation of Road Traffic Victims […]
ETSC has warmly welcomed the endorsement today by EU ministers of industry of a new package of mandatory minimum vehicle safety standards. Antonio Avenoso, Executive Director of the European Transport Safety Council said: “Today EU member states have given strong backing to a game-changing package of new minimum vehicle safety standards. If this legislation is passed, together with the European Parliament, in the form it was proposed, it will prevent 25,000 people from dying over 16 years – a massive step forward for road […]
A coalition of automotive supplier companies, cities and groups campaigning for greater road safety (1) are calling on EU Ministers of Industry to give their full support to a proposed package of new vehicle safety measures at the EU Competitiveness Council meeting on Thursday 29 November. At the meeting in Brussels, industry ministers will outline their initial response, known as a “general approach”, to a package of 16 vehicle safety measures proposed by the European Commission in May. The coalition, representing €600 billion of […]
The British Department for Transport has published a major research study on the impact of 20mph zones. It assesses the outcomes of introducing 20 mph speed limit schemes (ie reducing speed limits from 30mph to 20mph) in residential areas and town centres. The researchers looked at “signs only” schemes, i.e. without the traffic calming measures of earlier 20mph zones. The study found: Public support for 20mph (signed only) limits but concern about non-compliance; Minor changes in driven speeds: median speed fell 0.7mph in residential […]
Baden-Württemberg, Thüringen and Rheinland-Pfalz are the leaders in sustainable mobility among the federal states of Germany, according to an analysis carried out for the German pro-rail alliance, Friends of the Earth and DVR – ETSC’s German member. The “Federal State Index – Mobility & Environment 2018/19” looked at official statistics and the direction of transport policies in all 16 German federal states. In efforts by states to reduce the number of dead and seriously injured in road traffic, DVR gave a mixed assessment. “In Germany, […]
In the run-up to crucial votes by EU industry ministers and in the European Parliament, the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has launched a new social media campaign in support of future EU vehicle safety standards. In May this year the European Commission announced a significant proposal to upgrade mandatory vehicle safety standards for all new cars, vans, lorries and buses sold in the EU. The combination of new standards and technologies could save 25,000 lives in the EU between 2022 and 2037 according […]
One in 10 drivers would be tempted to have a nap while using a so-called ‘Highway Assist’ system, such as Adaptive Cruise Control, according to new research published this month alongside new Euro NCAP tests of cars featuring advanced driver assistance systems. In a separate briefing, also published this month, ETSC has called on the European Commission to set out plans for addressing the risks of driver over-reliance on automated systems and reiterated that there needs to be much more transparency around the approval […]
A study of safety issues and worker rights in the so-called gig economy has warned that workers paid per delivery are being incentivised to drive in adverse weather conditions and late at night while being penalised when packages are late or cannot be delivered due to sickness. The research, co-authored by Heather Ward of University College London (and co-chair of ETSC’s Road Safety Performance Index (PIN) programme), was presented earlier this month at the ETSC PRAISE conference on work-related road safety. Speaking at the […]
ETSC has announced the 2018 winners of the PRAISE awards, in recognition of outstanding efforts taken by companies to improve road safety at work. The large company award goes to CTT, the Portuguese postal services company. In the same category, FM Conway, the UK-based infrastructure services company was highly commended. The award for a public authority this year is awarded to STIB-MIVB, the Brussels public transport company. The winners will be honoured at a conference and award ceremony to be held in Brussels today […]