Publications
Every day in the European Union, more than eighteen children are seriously injured and one is killed in road traffic collisions. More than 6000 have died over the last decade. The impact of these deaths and life-changing injuries on families and communities is immeasurable. But they also carry an economic cost, which diverts resources that could have been used for education, improving health or other social goods. Children are particularly […]
The European Commission published a draft of its upcoming implementing act setting out the technical requirements and test procedures for the type approval of certain vehicles with an automated driving system (ADS). The rules would apply to the following use cases: ‘Self-driving shuttles’, which are designed to carry passengers or goods on a predefined area in an urban or suburban environment; ‘Hub-to-Hub’ transport, which covers fully automated vehicles or dual […]
ETSC, together with six other organisations, has written to EU member states regarding draft direct vision standards for lorries and buses, urging caution on exemptions for certain types of vehicle.
Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) is one of the vehicle safety technologies included in the EU’s new General Safety Regulation for motor vehicles (GSR) and will become mandatory for all new vehicles types as of 2022 and all new vehicles as of 2024. The detailed technical requirements for ISA are currently being prepared by the European Commission, who as part of that process have presented a “draft delegated act”. ETSC welcomes […]
The EU roadworthiness package was last revised in 2014 and consists of Directive 2014/45/EC on Periodic Roadworthiness tests, Directive 2014/47/EC on technical roadside inspections of commercial vehicles and Directive 2014/46/EC on the requirements for issuing registration certificates with implementation in May 2018. The EC is in the phase of preparing its implementation report, expected to be published in the autumn, and the EP will prepare its own implementation report following […]
A new study led by Professor Oliver Carsten at the Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, looks at the most effective and user-friendly human machine interface (HMI) options for Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA). ISA systems will be required on all new cars, vans, lorries and buses sold in the EU from 2022, as part of an array of mandatory new vehicle safety technologies included in the updated EU General […]
Independent transport accident investigations derive their value and significance to society from the fact that they are the only kind of investigation that set themselves the sole task of systematically establishing precisely the truth and the facts of what has taken place with the aim of learning to improve safety and helping to prevent recurrences. In doing so, they can also help to assure society that the occurrence of such […]
19 March 2019 Dear representatives of the Council, the Romanian Presidency, the European Parliament and the Commission, On 25 March, the Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission will take part in the trilogue negotiations on the package of vehicle safety and pedestrian protection measures known as the General Safety Regulation. These measures represent a historic, once-in-a-generation opportunity to dramatically reduce the scourge of death and serious injury on […]
Speed is a major factor in overall road safety performance. Excessive and inappropriate speed is accountable for about one third of fatal collisions and is an aggravating factor in most collisions. 2,100 lives could be saved each year if the average speed dropped by only 1 km/h on all roads across the EU. Speeding on different types of road In the EU, 37% of all road deaths occur on urban […]
Dear Member of the European Parliament committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection, On 21 February, you and your colleagues on the IMCO committee of the European Parliament will vote on the package of vehicle safety and pedestrian protection measures known as the General Safety Regulation. It is not an overstatement to say that these measures represent a historic, once-in-a-generation opportunity to dramatically reduce the scourge of death and serious […]
Letter: ACEA’s attempts to weaken the European Commission’s proposals on new vehicle safety measures
A group of safety experts, consumer groups, transport police, environmental campaigners, city authorities, cyclists and road collision victims have written today to members of the European Parliament’s Committees on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) and Transport (TRAN) to raise concerns over the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA)’s attempts to weaken the European Commission’s proposals on new vehicle safety measures and to ask MEPs to pass the legislation as soon […]
On 17 May 2018 the European Commission adopted a strategy paper on automated driving . The paper was published as part of the EC’s third mobility package, which also includes new vehicle safety standards, updated rules on road infrastructure safety management and a strategic action plan on road safety. This short briefing reflects ETSC’s first analysis of the paper with suggestions for areas that need further development. ETSC warmly welcomes, and […]
On 17 May 2018, the European Commission published a large package of transport policy proposals known as the ‘Third Mobility Package’ including some very significant measures to improve road safety in the European Union. 25,300 people died on EU roads in 2017, a figure that has hardly budged in four years. The road safety package should help substantially reduce this figure if combined with efforts at national and local level. […]