EU road safety lobby sets life-saving targets

Date: 20/02/1997

By Michael Mann

A FORTHCOMING initiative from Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock to cut the 45,000 deaths on Europe's roads each year will fall well short of the blueprint proposed by safety lobbies.

A European Commission report due to be unveiled at a conference in the Netherlands in April will suggest a new approach for the first years of the next century.

But it will stop short of calling for specific targets, as proposed by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) in a paper last week.

With the European Commission enjoying only limited responsibility for road safety policies, Kinnock's new strategy will have to rely largely on the willingness of Union governments to play along.

The Commission will, however, look to push ahead in those limited areas where it does have a role to play, including vehicle construction and inspection standards.

The ETSC's Jeanne Breen expressed satisfaction that the Commission was following up on her organisation's initiative, but stressed the need for more concerted action.

“The scope for effective EU activity to reduce road accidents and injuries is enormous ... The EU role should now be developed further to add value to the efforts of member states,” she said.

But Commission officials stressed that they would be loath to set targets in the same way as the ETSC. “Our approach will be a little bit more political,” said one.

On a lengthy wish list, the ETSC is demanding a directive on 'safety impact assessments', a 0.5 pro mille blood alcohol limit for experienced drivers and 0.2 for new drivers, and harmonised road safety engineering standards.

Calling for a maximum 120 kilometre per hour speed limit on Europe's highways, the ETSC claims a five kilometre per hour reduction in average speed could prevent over 11,000 deaths a year. It also claims that fitting daytime running lights to cars would reduce the number of accidents by up to 29&percent;, while improved pedestrian protection on vehicles could prevent 750 deaths.

If 95&percent; of car drivers and passengers across the Union could be persuaded to use seat belts and child restraints, a further 7,000 lives could be saved.

The ETSC has calculated that the course of action it has proposed could cut annual road deaths in the EU from 45,000 to 25,000 by 2010.

The Commission, however, sees its primary role as a transfer point for information and best practice across the member states, and will set out the type of measures it feels it can undertake.

It believes the Union has a central role to play in developing safety awareness campaigns. “We think 99&percent; of accidents could be avoided if everyone behaved properly,” explained an official.

“I am not certain whether we will set the type of hard and fast targets suggested by ETSC,” he added. “It is really hard to quantify the effects of these measures in precise terms.”