Young people
Children across Europe missed out on road safety lessons and tests for cycling and walking safely amid Covid-19 lockdowns and school closures, according to a new report by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), the Flemish Foundation for Traffic Knowledge (VSV) and Fundación MAPFRE. However, several education experts consulted for the report found that lockdown boosted innovation in delivery methods, tools and working practices which could lead to improved outcomes in the future. The report has been published to coincide with the third UNESCO […]
In March 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, most European governments put in place unprecedented restrictions on travel and movement, including lockdowns affecting most of the population and the closure of kindergartens and schools. For this LEARN! Flash report ETSC asked the members of the LEARN! Expert Panel how the restrictions, and in particularly the closure of schools, affected the provision of traffic safety and mobility education in their country, their work related to it, and how they adapted to it. ETSC also […]
Israel’s National Road Safety Authority is demanding changes to the way e-scooter hire apps verify users and rider age following investigations of fatal collisions that revealed several gaps. In a press release issued in December the NRSA said it had written to Lime, Wind and Bird, the main operators in Israel, calling for changes – and the companies had responded positively. The authority told ETSC that post-collision investigations had revealed several flaws with e-scooter sharing apps, notably: As a new subscriber, it was easy […]
A new study has shown that films demonstrating responsible behaviour could lead to young drivers taking fewer risks on the road than if they only saw videos aimed at provoking fear of accidents. Over one million people are killed in road accidents each year and drivers below the age of 25 account for nearly half of road deaths. Dr Yaniv Hanoch, Associate Professor of Risk Management at the University of Southampton, said: “Governments around the world have adopted a plethora of interventions aimed at […]
The entry-into-force of a new law in Finland to permit children as young as 15 to drive regular cars fitted with speed limiters has been withdrawn following drawn-out discussions with the European Commission about the legal and road safety implications of the scheme. The proposals, put forward two years ago by the Finnish government, would have allowed children to drive cars up to 1500 kg at speeds of up to 60 km/h and with only an AM category license – normally reserved for mopeds […]
Online event Tuesday 23 June 2020, 11:00-12:30 CEST The LEARN! Key Principles are 17 recommendations that should be implemented in all European countries, in order to ensure that everyone – and especially children and youngsters – receive high quality traffic safety and mobility education. This webinar presented these Key Principles, and showed how they can be applied in practice through examples from Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands and Norway. Click here to download the agenda and click here to watch the recording of the webinar. […]
Co-op Insurance says speeding alerts issued to its UK young driver policyholders have increased by a sixth (15%) in recent weeks. Co-op’s telematics data which monitor drivers’ behaviours such as how fast they take corners, how they brake and whether they are observing the speed limit, show some are driving faster than they legally should be. The UK has been a leader in car insurance policies linked to telematic devices fitted in the policy holder’s vehicle. As a means of helping to keep young […]
On the second UNESCO International Day of Education, a new report by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), the Flemish Foundation for Traffic Knowledge (VSV) and Fundación MAPFRE highlights 17 key principles for delivering effective road safety education in Europe. Education is an essential part of the “Safe System approach” to road safety. European countries have committed to providing traffic safety and mobility education, notably in schools at all levels. However, a previous report by the same authors showed that the provision of such […]
Education is an essential part of the Safe System approach to traffic safety. European countries have committed to providing traffic safety and mobility education, notably in schools at all levels. However, the previous LEARN! report showed that the provision of such education differs widely across Europe, with most countries not following through on their commitments. This publication therefore sets out recommendations that should be implemented in all European countries, in order to ensure that everyone – and especially children and youngsters – receive high […]
The entry-into-force of a new law in Finland to permit children as young as 15 to drive regular cars fitted with speed limiters has been postponed following an intervention by the European Commission. The proposals, put forward last year by the government, would have allowed children to drive cars up to 1500kg at speeds of up to 60 km/h and with only an AM category license – normally reserved for mopeds and light quadricycles. The original legal proposal set a speed limit of 45 […]
There are vast differences in the amount of road safety education given to children across Europe, particularly at secondary school level, according to a new report. The research shows that while road safety education is provided to children in primary education all over Europe, it is not given to youngsters in secondary education in a fifth of the 36 European states and regions studied. Moreover, the research reveals that traffic safety and mobility education is only sparsely addressed in secondary education in most of […]
Education is considered an essential part of the integrated approach to traffic safety. While it is important to view road safety education as a lifelong learning process, this report focuses on how such education is given at schools in Europe. Even though the overwhelming majority of European countries have signed the UNECE’s Convention on Road Traffic and thereby committed to provide road safety education in schools at all levels, this first overview of traffic safety and mobility education in Europe shows that in practice […]
12 September 2018, 09:00 – 13:30 Thon Hotel EU, Brussels The European Transport Safety Council is delighted organised the YEARS Final Conference in Brussels on 12 September. The YEARS (Young Europeans Acting for Road Safety) project looks at the latest EU data on road deaths involving young people, the main risks they face and what can be done to address these, in order to raise awareness among stakeholders and spur on national administrations to take action and reduce the number of young people killed […]
Four pairs of engineering students from Italy, Lithuania and Poland have been recognised for projects to redesign and upgrade high-risk road infrastructure in the cities of Milan, Naples, Vilnius and Kraków. The students’ projects were delivered as part of YEARS (Young Europeans Acting for Road Safety), a Europe-wide project on the road safety of young people managed by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) and the UK’s Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) with the support of the European Commission, the German Road […]
25 May 2018, 09:00 – 13:00 Altis Grand Hotel, Lisbon The Portuguese Road Safety Association (PRP) and the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) organised a YEARS national event in Lisbon to debate on the dangers and policy recommendations for young road users in the European Union on the 25th of May in Lisbon. The event was the occasion to learn about good practices and effective measures adopted across Europe presented by Road Safety experts from different EU countries. This conference welcomed road safety professionals […]
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 […]
Every day in the European Union, more than thirty children are seriously injured and two are killed in road traffic collisions. More than 8,100 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 vulnerable road users. They lack experience and are less visible to other road users […]
The Belgian city of Antwerp has announced a trial of restrictions on heavy goods vehicles in two areas during the early morning and afternoon on school days. Lorries will be prohibited from circulating between 7.30 and 9.00 and between 15.00 and 17.00 when children are travelling to and from school. The Flemish pedestrians organisation Voetgangers Beweging has welcomed the announcement, describing the measure as a ‘Christmas gift to the children of Antwerp’ and called for expansion of the scheme across Flanders.
1 December 2017, 9.30-15.00 Ministry of the Interior, Ilica 335, Zagreb The Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Sea, Transport and Infrastructure and the European Transport Safety Council held a high level Road Safety Performance Index debate. Government representatives, local authorities, police, researchers, NGOs and other stakeholders were invited to discuss priority measures and actions to improve young road user and cyclist safety in Croatia. Experts from Austria and the Netherlands shared their experience in improving young road user and cyclist safety. Download the […]
The Belgian consumer organisation Test-Achats/Test-Aankoop has called for tougher safety standards for children’s cycle helmets after it found large differences in the ability of current models to protect against brain injury. The organisation commissioned the University of Strasbourg to test twelve child cycle helmets using a digital model of the human head to simulate the protection offered. Price offered no indication of performance, as an €80 model was outperformed by one selling for €10. The best model tested carried a 30% risk of brain […]