News - Page 6
70% of Belgian road users are in favour of an increase in the number of average speed checks on motorways according to a poll by the motoring organisation VAB. The results were timely as Belgium’s northern region Flanders is set to triple the number of such controls from next year. Six out of ten of those surveyed also said that speed limits must be more strictly enforced in urban areas. See story (in French)
Novice drivers who are caught speeding or driving recklessly within five years of obtaining their license will be temporarily banned from driving and sent for a new driving test after just two penalty points, down from three. The tougher regime was announced by Melanie Schultz van Haegen, Minister for Infrastructure and Environment earlier this month. The new law will not be applied retrospectively to those who already have their license. For drink driving offences, a two point limit for novice drivers was already in […]
The newly-formed Belgian federal government has said it will support the development of road safety technologies including Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) and put in place the necessary legal framework for their introduction as part of its legislative programme. The 230-page coalition agreement also says the government will take measures to support the EU target to cut road deaths by 50% by 2020, compared to 2010 and to reduce serious injuries. The accord also promises an increase in drink driving checks. See Belgian Government Accord […]
The second annual nationwide speed enforcement marathon in Germany registered 93,000 speed violations in 24 hours. Of the more than three million motorists checked, approximately three percent were going too fast according to figures released by the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of the Interior in September. More than 13,000 police officers worked at 7,500 locations in the hunt for speeders in all 16 German states; 10,000 more speeding offences than last year were recorded despite the fact that 2,000 fewer police were in place to […]
Shocking footage of a fatal collision in Norfolk in the UK has been released by police in a bid to get motorcyclists and drivers to think seriously about road safety. The dramatic film, which has already been viewed 12 million times, was captured on a headcam fitted to the rider’s helmet and shows the moment a car crosses into the path of Norwich motorcyclist David Holmes who was killed on the A47 at Honingham in June last year. David’s story, a video featuring clips […]
Safety cameras on Irish roads have saved 71 lives over the past three years, according to research by the Irish government. Irish Department of Transport economist Derek Rafferty said a significant number of injuries had also been prevented during the same period, and the cameras yielded an overall net benefit of some €70 million annually. Mr Rafferty, who was speaking at the 11th Irish Society of New Economists conference in Galway in September said the research was based upon a comprehensive controlled study. It […]
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.