News - Page 6
The government of Lower Saxony has announced that it will host Germany’s first trial of average speed checks, also known as ‘section control’. The decision by Germany’s second largest state has been welcomed by the German Road Safety Council (DVR). The announcement comes several years after neighbouring countries Austria, The Netherlands and Switzerland introduced the technology. The delay in Germany was partly due to concerns over data protection. The DVR says that the system will be able to delete the data on non-speeders immediately, […]
ETSC’s Swiss member BFU has called for an increase in the number of speed controls outside of urban areas, pointing to 2013 statistics that showed 52% of speeding-related serious injuries and deaths occurred on inter-urban roads where only 4% of speed checks were currently being carried out. 98% of speed controls in Switzerland are carried out by fixed safety cameras, the remaining 2% by non-automatic cameras placed in special locations or in vehicles. BFU says the impact on driver behaviour is biggest when automatic […]
Two thirds of British adults are in favour of mandatory speed controlling technology on commercial and public transport vehicles, a poll commissioned by Living Streets, a UK charity, has revealed. Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) prevents a vehicle exceeding the speed limit. The YouGov survey found 66% of British adults in favour of it being compulsory for public transport vehicles such as buses and coaches, and 70% in favour for commercial traffic such as lorries and vans. Living Streets says that, as more UK local […]
New legal proposal could save 350-400 lives a year Brussels – Road safety campaigners and European traffic police are urging the EU to fast-track the adoption of a modified law on cross-border enforcement of traffic offences such as speeding. The modified rules, published today by the European Commission, come in response to a European Court of Justice ruling in May that said the existing law, which came into force in November last year, had been adopted on an incorrect legal basis. The ECJ has […]
New speed limits on all Spanish roads are expected to be in force by the end of the summer, according to the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT). According to media reports, certain urban roads will see their limits reduced from the standard 50 kilometres per hour to 30 or even 20. Speed limits on all secondary roads will be reduce to 90 kilometres per hour, as opposed to 100 most commonly used today. The move is aimed at cutting the numbers of deaths in […]
A revised proposal to enable EU member states to enforce traffic penalties for offences committed by foreign motorists, such as speeding, is expected to be published by the European Commission later this month. The European Court of Justice ruled in May that the legal basis of the Directive on Cross-Border Exchange of Information related to road safety, which came into force in November 2013, was incorrect. The Court has granted a one-year transition period, meaning the current rules will remain in effect until May 2015. A European […]
Deaths on motorways increased by 10.6% last year in Germany while the overall figure went down, according to new figures. ETSC’s German member DVR said in response that deaths are 25% higher on stretches of Germany motorways that have no speed limit compared to those with limits. See press release (in German).
A television advertisement warning of the dangers of speeding has been banned from being shown before 9pm in Northern Ireland. The clip contains a sequence showing a class of school children preparing for a day out followed by a horrific crash where the entire group is flattened by an out-of-control car. The video is designed to draw attention to the fact that the number of children killed on roads in Northern Ireland is in fact equivalent to a whole class being killed.
The European Court of Justice has ruled that the legal basis of the directive on cross-border enforcement of traffic offences, which came into force in November, was incorrect. In a case brought by the European Commission, the court said the correct legal basis should be transport. But, given the importance of the law for road safety, the ECJ said the current rules could stay in place while a new proposal is agreed. ETSC is calling on the EU to agree a new proposal as […]
Seat-belt reminder alerts in all car seats could save 900 lives a year Spain and Latvia make biggest progress in cutting car deaths Transport safety campaigners are calling on the European Union to accelerate progress on reducing the number of people killed in cars every year in the EU, as new research shows 12,345 car occupants were fatally injured in 2012. The report into trends in car occupant safety, published today by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), found that 900 lives could be […]
New dynamic speed bumps have been installed on the Oresund bridge between Sweden and Denmark that only activate when a car has been detected as speeding. The measure is designed to reduce the numbers of motorists who speed through the toll booths – some 200,000 a year, or 4% of cars using the bridge.
ETSC’s member the Belgian Road Safety Institute (BIVV-IBSR), has used a crowd-sourcing technique to aid the police in planning Belgium’s first speed enforcement ‘marathon’. Internet users were invited to send in speeding hotspots using a website with a map tool. 50,000 locations were suggested via the ‘I flash too’ website, a reference to the familiar sight of speed camera flashes. The crowd-sourcing element was added to the national enforcement marathon concept begun in Germany last year when 15,000 police officers checked 3 million cars, […]
A comprehensive assessment of eight different driver support technologies shows that Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) would save the most lives. The research, by the Norwegian Institute for Transport Economics (TØI), and now published in English, found that the overall societal benefits of introducing the technology would outweigh the costs. Selective use for high-risk groups such as young drivers could be even more cost-effective, according to the study. ETSC says ‘assisting’ ISA, that warns drivers of speed limits and assists the driver to adapt to the […]
ETSC member, the Belgian Road Safety Institute (BIVV-IBSR) has launched a moving online campaign against speeding which has been viewed over 2 million times on YouTube. The video features six regular speeders invited to their own ‘funeral’ by a close friend or relative. Watch the video to see what happened next. Read the press release.
Two new surveys carried out in Switzerland and the UK have found that an overwhelming majority support 30km/h (20 mph) limits. ETSC’s Swiss member BfU carried out a survey in March that found 65% of people believed that 30 km/h zones would cut the risk of accidents. BPA says that 38% of the Swiss population already live in 30km/h zones. The UK road safety charity Brake, together with Allianz, an insurer, published findings of a similar survey in April. It found that 78% of […]
Two weeks after it was published on YouTube, a powerful and moving road safety film has been viewed more than six million times. The ad by the New Zealand Transport Agency has a grim message for drivers who love speeding: the road is not the right place to learn from mistakes.
ETSC says European Commission plans to improve urban mobility will need strengthening if they are to have a measurable impact on road safety. Commenting on yesterday’s launch of the ‘Urban Mobility Package’, Antonio Avenoso, Executive Director of ETSC said: With 11,000 deaths on the road in urban areas across the EU each year, it is right that the European Commission says improving road safety in our cities should be a political priority. We welcome the renewed push to share good practice and further encouragement […]
Approximately 100 people have been killed today in the European Union, the same was true yesterday and it will probably be the same tomorrow – on our roads. What are we doing about it? Could we do more? ETSC’s Ellen Townsend featured in this edition of Euronews I Talk to discuss the issues.