WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3304/97 by Raymonde DURY to the Commission. Reducing the number of road accidents
Date: 1997-10-20
Institutions: DURY, European Parliament
Subjects: Belgium, accident prevention, cost analysis, mortality, road safety, road traffic, road transport, safety device, transport accident, transport statistics

25. 5. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 158/83

(98/C 158/106)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3304/97

by Raymonde Dury (PSE) to the Commission

(20 October 1997)

Subject: Reducing the number of road accidents

Can the Commission estimate the economic cost of deaths in Belgium resulting from traffic accidents and can it
say how it recommends reducing the number of injuries and deaths caused by road accidents throughout Europe?

(98/C 158/107)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3305/97

by Raymonde Dury (PSE) to the Commission

(20 October 1997)

Subject: Road accidents in Belgium

Can the Commission say, according to the data in its possession, how many people have been killed or injured in
traffic accidents in Belgium in recent years and how these figures translate into numbers of deaths per million
vehicles (a) in Belgium and (b) in comparison with the general situation throughout the European Union?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-3304/97 and E-3305/97
given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(15 December 1997)

In 1994, 1 543 people were killed in traffic accidents in Belgium and 73 338 were injured. Based on the number
killed by million inhabitants over the period 1991-1994, the position of Belgium is worse than the European
average, and that of seven other Member States. It is however difficult to make precise comparisons between
Member States as there are a number of factors, such as the quality of infrastructure, which are not comparable.

The Commission has calculated that the direct cost of road accidents (including the cost of police and emergency
services, vehicle repairs, and lost economic output), is 45 000 MECU per year for the Community as a whole.
When divided by the total of 45 000 road fatalities in the Community per year, this gives a simple average of
1 MECU per death.

The  Commission  has  adopted  a  communication  (cid:145)Promoting  road  safety  in  the  EU  ›  The  programme  for
1997-2001(cid:146) (1)  which  sets  out  in  detail  the  Commission(cid:146)s  plans  to  build  on  the  successes  of  the  first  action
programme  which  ran  from  1993-1996.  The  Commission(cid:146)s  actions  will  focus  on  three  areas:  information
gathering and dissemination in order to identify and to monitor the situation; initiating and supporting measures
to avoid accidents, with an emphasis on the human factor and its interface with environment; and initiating and
supporting measures to reduce the consequences of accidents when they occur. If the measures proposed in the
action programme are implemented, the Commission believes that a reduction of 18 000 fatalities per year could
be achieved by the year 2010.

(1)  COM(97) 131 final.

(98/C 158/108)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3306/97

by Gianni Tamino (V) to the Commission

(20 October 1997)

Subject: Failure by Italy to comply with the Directive on the protection of animals used for experimental and

other scientific purposes

With reference to the Reply of 8 July 1997 to my Written Question E-1874/97 (1) it should be noted that the
information supplied by the Italian authorities concerning arrangements for regular checks of registers by the
authorities relates to general provisions which are not supported by legislative acts.