Press releases
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 […]
More than 8,000 children aged 0-14 years have been killed in road traffic collisions over the last ten years in the European Union, new data show. Half of the children killed were travelling in cars, a third were walking and 13% were cycling, according to a report published today by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC). One in every 13 child deaths in the European Union occurs as a result of a road collision. The European Commission is expected to announce a long-overdue update […]
New report shows more than 5000 deaths a year in EU still caused by drink-driving Member States asked to increase enforcement and introduce rehabilitation programmes for drink-driving offenders The EU should require alcohol interlocks to be fitted in all new professional vehicles and retrofitted to cars used by repeat drink-driving offenders. These are two of the main recommendations from the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), authors of a new report looking at how to reduce the 5000 deaths still caused by drink-driving in the […]
The European Parliament says all new cars sold in Europe should be fitted as standard with a range of life-saving technologies including automated emergency braking, intelligent speed assistance and seatbelt reminders in all seats. Safety campaigners say the technologies could be as important as the seat belt, but action is needed now because it will take years before the majority of cars on the roads have the technology. Some 26,000 people died on EU roads last year, a figure that has hardly changed in […]
The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has announced the 2017 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 National Vehicle Distribution (NVD), a family-owned vehicle transportation and storage company in Ireland. The small and medium-sized enterprise award goes to ATF, a Belgian road construction company. Jacobs, one of the world’s largest construction services firms, has been highly commended by the award judges. The winners will be honoured […]
The European Parliament’s Transport Committee has called for new cars to be fitted as standard with a range of life-saving technologies including automated emergency braking, intelligent speed assistance and intelligent seatbelt reminders in all seats. In a non-binding resolution responding to a report by the European Commission, “Saving Lives: Boosting Car Safety in the EU”, adopted today in Brussels, the committee said “more effective measures” are needed, in order to reach a goal of “no fatalities”. Mandatory safety standards for new cars sold on the European […]
As EU road death figures stagnate, employers are essential to tackling road risk according to new report. Switzerland recognised with European award for long term progress on improving road safety. As new figures show road deaths in the European Union have not decreased in three years, a report from the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) says employers, national governments and the European Union must step-up efforts to tackle the problem of work-related road risk. 25,671 lives were lost on the road in the European […]
European Union transport ministers have formally agreed to set a target of halving the number of serious injuries on roads in the EU by 2030 from their 2020 level. In ‘council conclusions‘ adopted today, ministers formally endorsed the Valletta declaration on improving road safety, issued at an informal meeting organised by the Maltese presidency on 29 March 2017. Ministers also called on the European Commission to come forward with a new road safety strategy for the decade 2020-2030. Antonio Avenoso, Executive Director of ETSC, […]
A coalition of industry, NGOs, consumer groups and cities are calling on the European Commission to urgently bring forward new minimum safety standards for new cars, vans and trucks, after years of delays. The European Commission is expected to announce a new package of transport legislation next week, the groups are calling for an announcement on updates to vehicle safety regulations to be included. The letter from groups including the European Association of Automotive Suppliers (CLEPA), the European Cyclists Federation (ECF), POLIS, the European […]
Valetta – The European Transport Safety Council has welcomed a call by the 28 EU ministers of transport for a long term target and action to cut serious injuries on European roads by 2030. In a declaration signed in the Maltese capital Valletta today, transport ministers recommitted to an existing EU target to halve roads deaths by 2020 and also promised long term targets for reducing deaths and, for the first time, serious injuries by half by 2030. Yesterday, the European Commission published new […]
Valletta – The European Commission has published new data showing that deaths on EU roads fell by just 2% last year, following a 1% increase in 2015. According to ETSC analysis, road deaths will now need to fall by 11.5% a year in order to meet the EU target of cutting deaths by half in the decade to 2020. Commenting on the publication of the latest figures, Antonio Avenoso, Executive Director of the European Transport Safety Council said: “With around 500 deaths on EU […]
Increased levels of enforcement, specialist rehabilitation programmes and more investment in research and data collection are needed to tackle drug driving in Europe according to the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), authors of a new report. 500 people a week die on European roads; 26,000 annually. Drug driving is responsible for a significant share of deaths. Psychoactive drugs are detected in around 15% of killed and seriously injured drivers. Between 3 and 16% of drivers say they have driven under the influence of drugs […]
Eight EU transport ministers have called on the European Commission to ‘speed up’ plans to upgrade vehicle safety standards saying road safety should be ‘top priority’. In a letter to the European Commissioner for industry Elżbieta Bieńkowska, the transport ministers of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg and The Netherlands said ‘ambitious’ new vehicle safety standards are needed ‘to help Member States halve the number of road deaths by 2020’. 26,000 people die on European Union roads annually, with at least 135,000 suffering life-changing […]
Zero tolerance on drink driving, additional hazard perception training and graduated driver licensing schemes should become the norm in order to help tackle the disproportionate risks faced by young drivers and motorcycle riders in Europe, according to a new report. Over 3800 young people (aged 18-24) are killed each year on EU roads, the biggest single cause of death for this age group. According to the report by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) and the UK Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS), […]
The European Commission has published a list of 19 lifesaving safety technologies that could be made mandatory on new vehicles in the next update of EU vehicle safety rules expected next year. The European Transport Safety Council welcomes the announcement but says several critical areas for action are missing, and the proposed timescale is far too long considering that most of the technologies are already available today. 26,000 people die on European Union roads annually, with at least 135,000 suffering life-changing injuries. Progress on […]
Newly-published research carried out for the European Commission recommends that the EU should set a target to reduce the number of people seriously injured in road collisions. 135,000 people were seriously injured on European roads in 2014, according to figures published by the European Commission for the first time in April. While the number of deaths on European roads has fallen dramatically over the last decade, serious injuries have declined at a much slower rate. Official targets to reduce road deaths have been in […]
World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims – Sunday 20 November 2016 ETSC is launching a new three-year initiative aimed at improving emergency response time to road collisions, and post-collision care for victims. The announcement has been made ahead of the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, taking place on 20 November. The theme of this year’s World Day is promoting the vital post-crash actions of medical care, investigation and justice. Around 135,000 people suffered a life-changing, serious injury on Europe’s […]
The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has announced the 2016 winners of the PRAISE awards, recognising organisations that have taken outstanding measures to improve the safety of their vehicle fleets. The winners will be honoured at a conference and award ceremony to be held in Brussels today Wednesday 19 October. Using the road for business is the leading cause of work-related deaths and injuries. It is estimated that in Europe six out of ten work accidents resulting in death are road crashes, including both […]
Declines in the level of police enforcement of traffic offences are contributing to Europe’s failure to cut the numbers dying in road collisions, according to the European Transport Safety Council, authors of two new reports on road safety. More than 26,000 people died on EU roads last year, the first increase since 2001 according to the ETSC annual road safety performance index (PIN) report. Exceeding speed limits, drink or distracted driving and a failure to wear a seat belt are still the leading causes […]
The transport ministers of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia have added to calls for the European Union to come forward with a target to reduce the numbers of people seriously injured in road collisions. In a declaration signed in Prague today at a meeting of the Visegrad group of countries, the ministers wrote “that traffic crashes cause an unacceptable human, social and economic loss and harm physically, psychologically and materially the victims and their relatives.” They called for a target to […]