News
Women are almost twice as likely as men to be trapped in a vehicle after a traffic collision, according to a new study of UK injury data. The authors say the research, which also looked at the differences in injury patterns by sex, may help vehicle manufacturers, emergency services personnel and road-safety organisations to tailor responses with the aim of more equitable outcomes by targeting equal performance of safety measures […]
The Lithuanian government has announced changes to road safety rules in the country that will be implemented in two phases next year. From 1 January, Lithuania will introduce the Emergency Corridor system for allowing easier access to emergency vehicles during heavy traffic. The system, already implemented in Poland, Belgium, Germany and other EU countries can speed up emergency response and save lives. The system was a focus of ETSC’s REVIVE […]
A software bug that can result in a crashed car sending incorrect location information to emergency services has led to a recall of 1.3 million vehicles by Mercedes-Benz in the USA. The recall came to light in a report published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Agency (NHTSA) earlier this month, which references “a case in the European market” where a car was found to have sent incorrect location data […]
Euro NCAP, the consumer vehicle safety testing organisation, has launched a new app giving rescue workers easier access to “rescue sheets”, detailed information for different car models on how to safely extricate occupants. After a collision, getting the injured to emergency care quickly and safely is critical. But knowing where and how to cut vehicles open to safely extricate occupants is challenging for emergency rescue workers. In recent years devices […]
Belgium will be the ninth EU country to implement the emergency corridor system to enable emergency response teams faster access to crash sites when a new requirement comes into force on 1 October. The news was reported in July by Flemish news channel VRT. The system, which has been shown to reduce response times by 4 minutes, and increase survival rates by 40%, is already used in Austria, the Czech […]
The consumer vehicle safety rating organisation Euro NCAP has announced major changes to its testing process. A significant difference in the new 2020 testing regime is the implementation of a new “moving barrier to moving car” frontal crash test. This new test not only evaluates the protection of occupants inside the car being tested, but also assesses how a car’s front-end structure contributes to injuries in the “collision partner” i.e. […]
The Prime Minister of Poland has announced that the country’s anomalous night-time 60 km/h speed limits in urban areas will soon be scrapped, as part of a new package of road safety measures. Poland is the only country in Europe with different speed limits in urban areas during the day and at night. The speed limit will be changed to 50 km/h at all times. Hungary, which reduced its urban […]
Poland is the eighth European country to implement an “emergency corridor” system to clear the way for emergency vehicles on congested roads. The system, which has been shown to reduce response times by 4 minutes, and increase survival rates by 40%, is already used in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Switzerland but was not widely known outside of those countries. The system was a focus of […]
A short animated film by ETSC explaining the “emergency corridor” system used by several European countries has been shared by thousands of people and seen by around half a million users on the Facebook social media platform. The emergency corridor system, which enables emergency vehicles to reach collision sites faster, requires vehicles to separate in a systematic, organised way during periods of traffic congestion, in order to make a clear […]
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 […]