News
A new report by the European Transport Safety Council shows that road safety progress in the European Union has stagnated for the last four years. The organisation says governments need strong political will, urgent measures and substantial investments in safe infrastructure to reduce the 500 deaths that occur on EU roads every single week. The weekly number of road deaths in the EU is equivalent to two typical passenger airliners crashing and killing everyone on board. The latest Road Safety Performance Index (PIN) report […]
A new report from ETSC looks at the state of the art of road death data collection across the EU. The authors include recommendations for improving the accuracy and scope of the data in order to better target road safety policy measures in the coming years. The report says Member States that use a single source of data, usually police records, should consider cross-checking with other sources such as hospital data and coroners’ records. Research in countries that do use more than one source, […]
The European Parliament’s Transport Committee called last month for action from the European Commission against mileage fraud in Europe. Research on cross-border second-hand car sales has shows that up to 50% of odometers were tampered with, with an economic cost for buyers and businesses running into billions of Euros every year. Georges Bach MEP said: “It is unacceptable that many car buyers all over Europe are still victims of mileage fraud. Considering that the solution only costs a fraction of the economic damage incurred, […]
ETSC has written to the European Commission for the second time this year regarding concerns over the safety and approval process for new driver assist systems including lane change systems. Earlier this year, new rules on the functionality of lane change assist systems were agreed at the UNECE in Geneva. The rules could be integrated within EU law within a few months, meaning car manufacturers will be able to “type approve” vehicles fitted with such a system for sale across the EU. Such systems […]
A new report by the International Transport Forum of the OECD examines how increasing automation of cars and trucks could affect road safety, and which security vulnerabilities will need to be addressed with the rise of self-driving vehicles. It applies the principles of the Safe System approach and relevance of Vision Zero for road safety to the wider discussion on vehicle automation. The report addresses a critical misunderstanding of road safety crash data that has led to an oft-repeated myth about automated cars – […]
The European Commission has adopted a proposal to coordinate safety rules for small passenger ships (less than 24 meters in length). It is the first time a common safety framework for all small passenger ships has been presented at EU level. 555 accidents were recorded between 2011 and 2017 in the European Marine Casualty Information Platform (EMCIP) for this class of ships, with 165 injured people and 11 deaths. The proposal recommends Member States to follow common safety goals and functional requirements for small […]
European Commission announces major package of road safety measures including new targets to cut road deaths and serious injuries in half by 2030; World’s most advanced new car safety standards will make life-saving technologies such as Automated Emergency Braking and overridable Intelligent Speed Assistance a standard feature on all new vehicles; currently these features are only available as an option on some models; Race on for proposals to be approved by 28 EU Member States and the European Parliament. Veuillez trouver ci-dessous la version […]
The findings of a study by Ipsos MORI and the Institute for Transport Studies at the University of Leeds have shown that participation in National Speed Awareness Courses in England and Wales has a larger effect in reducing speed reoffending than penalty points and fines. Reoffending rates were estimated to be reduced by up to 23% for those that completed a course, during the six months following their participation. After three years, the reduction in reoffending rates was up to 18%. Speed Awareness Courses […]
The Brussels Capital region will introduce mandatory first aid training for all new drivers from November this year. 20,000 places on courses organised by the Red Cross will be available on an annual basis. But the requirements only apply in Brussels, one of the three main administrative regions of Belgium. The costs of the courses will be paid, not by drivers, but by the Brussels authorities. ETSC says first aid training could be useful, and in any case, can prove helpful in a wide […]
New research from the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has analysed the causes of a 46 percent increase in pedestrian deaths in the United States since 2009. A total of 5,987 pedestrians were killed in crashes in 2016, accounting for 16 percent of all crash deaths in the US. The number of pedestrians killed in 2016 was the highest since 1990. For the new study, IIHS researchers looked at pedestrian crash trends during 2009–2016 to pinpoint the circumstances under which the largest […]
EU Transport Ministers have formally agreed on new rules governing driver licensing and additional professional training for lorry and bus drivers. Ministers voted in April to approve a deal reached with negotiators from the European Parliament in December last year. Ahead of the December negotiations, ETSC had expressed concerns about a proposed amendment from the European Parliament that could have severely weakened the scope of the rules. Fortunately, the negotiators agreed on new language that limited a potentially far-reaching exemption for additional training. The […]
ETSC has joined with a group of European cities and organisations to call for the introduction of a European direct vision standard for HGVs as part of the European Commission’s upcoming revision of the General Safety Regulations and Pedestrian Safety Regulations. The joint letter, sent to Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker today, asks for the inclusion of a number of measures to help eliminate most blind spots in the vehicle cab. These include the elimination of the blind spot at the front of trucks and […]
The European Commission will announce a major package of road safety legislation next month including new vehicle safety standards, revised rules on infrastructure safety management, a strategy on automated driving as well as a new overarching road safety framework setting targets for the decade to 2030. The announcements, expected on 16 May, are being published after lengthy delays and several years of slow to non-existent progress on reducing road deaths and serious injuries in the EU. Figures published earlier this month showed that deaths […]
The 2018 Nissan Leaf electric car is the first to be awarded five stars by Euro NCAP, the consumer new car testing programme under a new tougher regime that includes a test for autonomous emergency braking systems that can detect cyclists. ETSC welcomed the inclusion of more technology that can help save the lives of vulnerable road users outside the vehicle. Carmakers’ focus in recent years has been on protecting vehicle occupants, with deaths among that group falling at a faster rate than those […]
Inappropriate speed is responsible for 20 to 30% of all fatal road crashes according to the latest review of research on the relationship between speed and crash risk. A new report by the OECD’s International Transport Forum analysed eleven cases from ten countries that have recently changed speed limits or introduced large-scale automatic speed control i.e. using time-over-distance cameras. The analysis confirmed the very strong relationship between speed and crash risk and that higher speed is associated with increased occurrence and severity of road […]
The European Commission has today published data showing that deaths on EU roads fell by just 2% last year, following a similar decrease in 2016 and a 1% increase in 2015. According to ETSC analysis, the EU target of cutting deaths by half in the decade to 2020 is now very unlikely to be reached. The EU28 collectively reduced the number of road deaths by 20% over the period 2010-2017, far less than the 38% cut needed to stay on course to meet the […]
All new models of car launched in the EU since 31 March include eCall, the automated emergency call system that alerts emergency services in the event of a collision. Research showed that, with eCall, emergency service response time would be cut by 50% in rural areas and 40% in urban areas. Inclusion of the system means that all new models of car sold in the EU are fitted with GPS devices and are capable of communication over the GSM phone network. This will facilitate […]
The Lithuanian ministry of transport has announced plans to introduce a national alcohol interlock programme to tackle repeat drink-driving offences. Under the proposed measure, drivers found guilty of drink driving will be able to choose a shorter driving ban if they agree to install an interlock in their vehicle. Lithuania has previously trialled alcohol interlocks for professional drivers in school buses. Check out ETSC’s map of alcohol interlock use in Europe and our guide for policymakers
What have Johnson & Johnson, Transport for London, Arriva Denmark, Unilever Poland, Bolk Transport and British Telecom got in common? These organisations all know that taking a lead on road safety pays off – helping the bottom line, improving working conditions for staff, and boosting customer satisfaction. What’s more, they are all previous winners of a PRAISE award – for European organisations, large and small, that have committed to putting road safety at the core of their business. If your organisation has a road […]
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 […]