EU Road Safety Targets
The Belgian government has announced a new federal road safety plan, which attempts to tackle several key issues including speeding and distracted driving. The Highway Code will be modified to give priority to walking, cycling and public transport above private vehicles. The government wants to tackle use of mobile phones while driving, with legal changes to allow for automated detection of phone use at the wheel. The negative effects of driving under the influence of prescribed drugs will also be tackled, with plans to […]
The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to back a document setting out the institution’s views on the EU road safety strategy for the next ten years. The Parliament’s report follows the publication of the European Commission’s ten year road safety plan published back in June 2019, and an outline of planned legislative measures announced in the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy published in December last year. MEPs have endorsed the overall EU strategy, with the headline targets to cut serious injuries and deaths by 50% by […]
MEPs on the European Parliament’s transport committee have voted through a document setting out the institution’s views on the EU road safety strategy for the next ten years. The Parliament’s ‘own initiative follows the publication of the European Commission’s ten year road safety plan published back in June 2019, and an outline of planned legislative measures announced in the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy published in December last year. Overall strategy MEPs have endorsed the overall EU strategy, with the headline targets to cut serious injuries […]
Covid-19 pandemic travel decrease mainly responsible for a 17% drop in road deaths last year in the EU; Deaths dropped by 37% in the last ten years – short of the EU target to cut by 50% by 2020; Greece announced as the winner of the 2021 ETSC Road Safety Performance Index Award – with road deaths down by 54% in ten years; 2020 a “turning point” year – future reductions in road deaths in doubt without political leadership. Brussels – There were around […]
In 2011 the European Union set the ambitious target of halving the number of road deaths between 2010 and 2020. This was the second decade-long EU target period, the first having begun in 2001. This report looks at the progress made towards the 2020 target in EU Member States as well as other countries covered by ETSC’s Road Safety Performance Index (PIN) programme. The EU has set two new targets for 2030, again to halve road deaths, and also to halve serious injuries. This […]
On behalf of Mr. Eduardo Cabrita, Minister for Home Affairs of Portugal, acting as Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and Ms Adina Vălean, European Commissioner for Transport, ETSC was delighted to organise the online event: Looking Ahead to 2030: A New Global Decade of Road Safety Action in Portugal, the EU and Africa, on Thursday 20 May 2021. The agenda can be found here. The event was in two parts: Session I focussed on Road Safety in the EU – Looking […]
Commenting on the data on road deaths in 2020 published today by the European Commission, Antonio Avenoso, Executive Director of the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) said: “The EU has a new target for 2030 to reduce deaths and serious injuries by half. If we are to succeed this time, we need to avoid the mistakes of the past decade. The EU needs to act now, not wait years before taking action. Measures agreed in law should also not be weakened during the implementation […]
The transition period is over and a deal has been done. What will the implications be for road safety regulation and cooperation now that the UK has left the EU and a new trade deal has been signed? The biggest changes are where no agreement was reached and/or EU rules no longer apply to the UK. The EU legislation on cross-border enforcement of traffic offences no longer applies, meaning the UK is not able to easily follow-up on traffic penalties such as speeding tickets […]
Updated rules on cross-border enforcement of traffic offences, vehicle roadworthiness, automated vehicles, and driving licenses and a proposal to add eCall automated emergency calling devices to motorcycles, trucks and buses are among a major package of new legislative measures for the transport sector announced by the European Commission last week. The new Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy follows the pattern of recent years of bundling up an array of new related measures into a package rather than announcing them individually. The Commission also says […]
The UN General Assembly has adopted a new resolution on road safety, co-sponsored by 55 governments. The resolution proclaims the period 2021–2030 as the Second Decade of Action for Road Safety, with a goal of reducing road deaths and serious injuries by at least 50% between 2021 and 2030. The resolution calls for action to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries as a pressing development priority. It also endorses the Stockholm Declaration, approved at the third Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, held in […]
Online event Wednesday, 17 June 2020, 11.00-12.00 Central European Summer Time In light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, this year’s annual ETSC Road Safety Performance Index Award event was moved online. Participants joined via teleconference for the presentation of this year’s PIN Annual Report looking at European progress in reducing road deaths and serious injuries in 2019. We were delighted to be joined by Mrs Adina-Ioana Vălean, European Commissioner for Transport as well as the Mr Taavi Aas, Estonian Minister for Economic Affairs and […]
Estonia, Greece, Lithuania, Latvia and Portugal have reduced road deaths the most since 2010 Estonia to receive the 2020 European Transport Safety Council Road Safety Performance Index Award Road deaths in Malta, the Netherlands and the UK were higher in 2019 than in 2010 EU “almost certain to miss” 2020 target to halve road deaths 17 June 2020 Brussels – The Baltic States, together with Greece and Portugal, were the best performing countries in the EU according to a new report on the progress […]
22,660 people lost their lives on EU roads in 2019, representing a 3% reduction compared to 2018. Out of the 32 countries monitored by the ETSC Road Safety Performance Index (PIN) programme, 16 reduced road deaths in 2019. The best results were achieved by Luxembourg with a 39% decrease, Sweden with 32%, Estonia with 22% and Switzerland with 20%. Road deaths increased in 12 countries, while progress stagnated in four. While there has been progress over a longer period, it is not enough to […]
Government delegates from more than 80 countries discussed how to step up ambition and improve global road safety in the next decade at a major international conference in Stockholm. During the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Stockholm, Swedish Minister for Infrastructure Tomas Eneroth presented the Stockholm Declaration, stressing the need for continued, ambition in particular by working towards a new global fatality reduction target, as the current target expires this year. The document will provide guidance up to 2030, focussing on […]
Adina-Ioana Vălean, a Romanian politician, MEP and chair of the European Parliament’s Industry committee will take over from Violeta Bulc as European Commissioner for Transport from 1 December. Mrs Vălean was approved for the role at a European Parliament hearing on 14 November. In her opening statement to MEPs she said: “25 000 [deaths] per year is simply unacceptable. We should share the objective of halving the number of road deaths and serious injuries by 2030 compared to 2020.” Later at the same hearing, […]
ETSC has welcomed a number of aspects of the EU’s ten-year action plan on road safety, published in June. But ETSC also suggests, in a briefing published earlier this month, that a number of areas will require bolder action in order to reach the ambitious targets set out in the Commission’s plan. The ETSC report highlights the following elements of the Commission’s proposals that are particularly welcome: A new target to halve road deaths between 2020 and 2030 as well as, for the first […]
In June 2019, the European Commission adopted the EU Road Safety Policy Framework 2021-2030,[1] outlining specific policy measures planned for 2021-2030 and developing on the EU Strategic Action Plan on Road Safety published in May 2018.[2] This briefing reflects ETSC’s first assessment of these initiatives with suggestions for further development and implementation. This document refers mainly to the measures addressed by the European Commission in these latest documents. An earlier ETSC briefing, published in February 2018 as input to the Commission’s preparatory process, contains […]
Norway House, Rue Archimède 17, 1000 Brussels Wednesday, 19 June 2019, 11.00-17.00 The 13th ETSC’s annual Road Safety PIN conference took place on 19 June 2019 in Brussels. During the event we presented the latest road safety figures and identified actions needed to accelerate road safety progress. A high level representative on behalf of their country received the PIN award for achievements in road safety. We also presented the outcomes of two reports on tackling speeding on European roads and improving urban road safety […]
In 2010, the European Union renewed its commitment to improve road safety by setting a target of reducing road deaths by 50% by 2020, compared to 2010 levels. This target followed an earlier target set in 2001 to halve the number of road deaths by 2010. A new target to halve road deaths and the first target to halve the number of serious road traffic injuries by 2030 compared to 2020 levels were announced by the European Commission on 17 May 2018. 25,047 people […]
Ireland takes home 2019 ETSC Road Safety Performance Index (PIN) Award New European figures show numbers killed on EU roads last year fell by just 1% Call for new European Parliament and Commission to step up progress on road safety Ireland is the winner of this year’s European Transport Safety Council Road Safety Performance Index (PIN) award. The annual award is presented to a European country that has demonstrated continued progress on road safety combined with a strategic approach to tackling the problem across […]