Revealed: road-death hot spots

By Emily Smith

Date: 16/02/06

Poland, Lithuania, Portugal, Estonia and Hungary are the most dangerous places to drive in Europe, according to figures to be published by the European Commission next week.

A report on the 2003 EU road safety programme, to be published on Wednesday (22 February) will also show that the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK now have the fewest road deaths per person per year.

The road safety programme aims to halve EU road deaths by 2010 and the review will set out national progress so far.

Transport safety lobbyists say that without a more urgent and robust approach to traffic safety, Europe will miss the target.

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) said it was "very disappointed" that the review contained no proposals for legislation.

The 2003 programme said only that: "The Commission reserves the right, on the basis of the review, to propose regulatory measures."

ETSC said it expected proposals in particular on improving road infrastructure, for example by making road barriers compulsory in some areas.

ETSC also hoped for legislation on daytime use of headlights, on fitting trucks with blind-angle mirrors, and on cross-border traffic infringement co-operation.

But a Commission spokesman said decisions had merely been delayed, and would be discussed at an informal meeting of EU transport ministers on 2 and 3 March. "It's not that we're not looking at this, we are talking about it now, under the three safety areas highlighted by [Transport Commissioner Jacques] Barrot: infrastructure, technology and driver behaviour."

Article anticipates a report on the 2003 EU road safety programme, to be published by the European Commission on 22 February 2006.

• Primary Source

European Commission: DG Energy and Transport: Transport: Road Transport: Road Safety http://ec.europa.eu/comm/transport/road/roadsafety/index_en.htm

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