European Parliament resolution on the Commission communication to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the ‘Priorities in EU road safety - Progress report and ranking of actions’ (COM(2000) 125 — C5-0248/2000 — 2000/2136(COS))
Date: 2001-01-18
Institutions: Committee on Regional Development, European Parliament
Subjects: common transport policy, public awareness campaign, road safety, safety device, transport accident

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4. Priorities in EU road safety

A5-0381/2000

European Parliament resolution on the Commission communication to the Council, the Euro-
pean Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the
‘Priorities in EU road safety & Progress report and ranking of actions’ (COM(2000) 125 &
C5-0248/2000 & 2000/2136(COS))

The European Parliament,

(cid:1) having regard to the Commission communication (COM(2000) 125 (cid:1) C5-0248/2000),

(cid:1) having regard to the Commission’s proposal for a Council directive relating to the maximum per-

mitted alcohol concentration for vehicle drivers (COM(1988) 707 (1)),

(cid:1) having regard to its previous resolutions on road safety and in particular its resolution of 11 March

1998 on promoting road safety in the EU (cid:1) the programme for 1997-2001 (2),

(cid:1) having regard to the Council’s resolution of 26 June 2000 on improvement of road safety,

(cid:1) having regard to Rule 47(1) of its Rules of Procedure,

(cid:1) having regard to the report of the Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism (A5-0381/

2000),

A. whereas 95 % of all traffic accidents occur on the road; whereas it is totally unacceptable that more
than 42 000 deaths and over 1,7 million injuries are caused annually by road crashes across the
European Union, of which several thousand give rise to severe disability, and whereas it is vital to
attempt to contain this situation,

B. whereas inadequate road safety must be viewed as a major public health problem given the number of
deaths and injuries due to road accidents which cause serious physical, psychological and material
harm to the victims, their families and society as a whole,

C. whereas in the EU in the last decade the number of serious and fatal accidents has decreased, but this
trend appears to be flattening out; whereas, also, road traffic is expected to increase substantially in
the next few years, and that is one reason for stepping up action,

D. whereas road accidents are the most common cause of death amongst children and young people and
in fact amongst all EU citizens under the age of 45, which has a devastating impact, not only on
families, but also on society as a whole,

E. whereas the most vulnerable groups of road users, such as the young and the elderly, pedestrians and
cyclists, as well as motorcyclists, run the greatest risks; whereas the separation between motorised
traffic, on the one hand, and pedestrians and cyclists, on the other hand, reduces these accident risks,

F. whereas the particularly serious accidents which have occurred in road tunnels in recent years, for
example in the Mont Blanc tunnel and the Tauern tunnel in Austria, have made it necessary to rethink
active and passive safety measures from top to bottom, the aim being to ensure that users will be able
to pass without fear through the road tunnels in operation and those under construction,

(1) OJ C 25, 31.1.1989, p. 9.
(2) OJ C 104, 6.4.1998, p. 139.

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G. whereas the main problems on which road safety strategies should be focused are common to all
Member States; whereas there are significant differences between the Member States in the number
of road deaths and therefore major improvements can be obtained by progressively reducing the dis-
parities and bringing all Member States up to the standards of those with the best results; whereas
there are significant differences in the number of fatalities between road transport and other transport
modes and the road sector must approach the same level of safety as other transport modes,

H. whereas the EU has explicit Treaty obligations to act on road safety with exclusive powers for ensur-
ing a high level of protection in car and motorcycle technical standards (Article 95), powers to act in
any other area of road safety where the EU can add value over and above the efforts of Member States
(Article 71) and established powers in several areas since the 1980s, such as seat-belt use in cars and
driver licensing,

I. whereas the adoption, by the EU, of measures to increase transport safety is an explicit objective of
the common transport policy and must be incorporated as a fully-fledged element of transport policy
in the common policy on sustainable mobility,

J. whereas the most precise estimations of the total socio-economic costs of road accidents in the EU
(including estimates for under-reporting of non-fatal accidents) exceed € 160 billion annually, which is
almost 2 % of GDP; whereas attributing an economic cost to road fatalities and damages shows that
the cost of preventing accidents is far less than the economic cost of crashes, and therefore additional
resources, both in terms of staff and budget, are fully justified at local, national and EU level,

K. whereas such a policy might require major investment to plan and build a safe traffic system; but
whereas low-cost road engineering measures, such as safety barriers, may be implemented quickly
and, like the production and promotion of EU technical guidelines based on best practices, may sig-
nificantly improve traffic safety; whereas, however, the safety barriers must meet the specific safety
requirements of motorcyclists,

L. whereas road accidents are caused by failures in the traffic system as a whole; whereas such systems
must be designed to take account of the needs, mistakes and vulnerabilities of road-users and the
infrastructures for which planners are responsible,

M. whereas improving road safety is the joint responsibility of the EU and the national, regional and local
authorities with responsibility for the planning, operation and use of traffic systems; whereas the
motor vehicle industry, transport and insurance companies and, in particular, road-users themselves,
also have a special responsibility for improving road safety,

N. whereas an efficient road-safety policy requires strong political

leadership at all

levels, from local

authorities to the EU,

O. whereas the detrimental effects of excessive and inappropriate speed on road safety are universally

acknowledged,

P. whereas alcohol is responsible for at least 20 % of serious traffic injuries and 9 000 road deaths every

year in the EU,

Q. whereas it is a known fact that, in the same way as alcohol, the taking of medicines and drugs is the

cause of countless accidents,

R. whereas effective action on vehicle safety, and car fronts which are less dangerous for pedestrians and
cyclists, should be the priority in the European Union since this is an area of exclusive competence
and has the potential to greatly reduce the number of accidents in every Member State,

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S. whereas strategic planning for road safety with numerical targets is essential to increase political atten-
tion and to provide a focus for effective activity by all those who can take action and whereas the case
for setting numerical targets is the same whether it be at EU, national, regional or local level,

T. whereas, although the first and second action programmes have resulted in many useful measures,
those taken to date have been mainly ad hoc and not in keeping with the scale and importance of
the road safety problem,

Affirms that improving safety for all modes of transport, as well as providing the necessary financial

1.
resources for this purpose, must be one of the main priorities of transport policy;

Regrets that so few of the measures proposed in the second road-safety action programme have been

2.
implemented and that the priority list was submitted with very little of the programme left to run;

Considers that all the following measures should be considered as priorities in the very little time

3.
remaining:

(a) a legislative proposal making mandatory the four sub-system tests developed in the 22-year EU-funded
research and development programme leading to safer car fronts for pedestrians and cyclists should be
introduced without any further delay,

(b) a legislative proposal requiring the fitting of speed limiters on lighter heavy goods vehicles weighing

more than 3,5 tonnes,

(c)

(d)

further support for the European New Car Assessment Programme (EuroNCAP); calls on the Commi-
ssion to request EuroNCAP to consider the possibility of combining standards for pedestrians and car-
drivers to give car-buyers, who are both pedestrians and car-users, one overall performance standard;
the current EuroNCAP should also be incorporated in a larger testing programme which would take
account of further safety aspects, with regard in particular to the safety of vulnerable road users,

support for seat-belt campaigns; requests the Commission to make this support conditional on the
campaigns being linked to police enforcement to ensure best value-for-money and changes in beha-
viour; support for the development of a specification for smart audible seat-belt reminder systems with
a view to making these mandatory in the EU,

(e) EU guidelines, based on best practice for low-cost measures, on the designing of less dangerous road
verges, as well as on policies to inform the public and eliminate high-risk accident spots (‘black spots’),
and calls on the Commission to extend this list to include urban safety management (and in particular
measures to create a safe environment for vulnerable road users), speed reduction and safety audits in
the current programme,

(f)

support for the further development of the EU road accident database, the development of a compu-
terised EU road-safety information system (including a map of ‘black spots’) and further research into
road-crash injuries, vehicle standards and telematics;

Believes that an EU recommendation on blood alcohol limits is not the appropriate response to the
4.
need to reduce the considerable differences between the Member States in this field and takes this oppor-
tunity to reconfirm Parliament’s support for the existing proposal for a maximum common limit of
0,5 parts per thousand; calls on the Member States to enforce compliance of the blood alcohol limits
more strictly and reconfirms the need for provisions for the standardisation of apparatus for testing alco-
hol levels; considers that research and development of alcohol interlock devices should also be promoted;

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Emphasises the need for the Commission to take a decision on the mandatory fitting of daytime

5.
running lights to motorcycles and cars;

Thursday 18 January 2001

6.
Believes that no single death on the European roads can be justified and that therefore the long-term
objective must be that no European citizens should be killed or seriously injured in the road transport
system; notes that the risk of being killed and injured is much higher in the road transport system than
in other transport modes, and considers therefore that the new action programme must ensure the same
level of safety in road transport as in other transport modes; believes that work should start as soon as
possible on a longer-term new road-safety action programme for the years 2002-2010 with clearly defined
goals;

7.
Emphasises that the Commission, in accordance with the abovementioned resolution adopted by
Parliament on 11 March 1998, should, for the next road-safety programme 2002-2010, set a common
aspirational fatality reduction target which is challenging but achievable and which takes into account
existing national targets to 2010 and the added value of measures to be taken at EU level; considers that,
in case there is a revision of Member States’ targets and programmes, such an EU target could be revised
mid-term during the programme; believes that this target should be adjusted at the time of the enlarge-
ment of the Union;

8.
Believes that the next road-safety programme for the years 2002-2010 should clearly define the main
priorities and employ a systematic approach to the problem of road safety and use all strategies: accident
prevention, injury prevention and post-impact care; considers that the programme should identify not only
measures which fall within the exclusive competence of the EU, but also those which will add value to
what can be achieved by individual Member States; further requests the Commission to submit every three
years an evaluation report on the extent to which the main goals have been achieved;

9.
Calls on the Commission to take up the question of working conditions for professional drivers, and
to address in the new programme issues such as cumulative driving fatigue, working time, alcohol and
drugs; believes that current legislation on driving time and rest periods is not sufficient to guarantee drivers
acceptable working hours; points out that monitoring and application of the law must also be improved
and harmonised within the EU;

Believes that harmonisation should be pursued with a view to promoting rules governing the build-
10.
ing and operation of tunnels and to make existing tunnels safe in order to protect road users, not least by
means of information campaigns and warning systems to enable help to be provided quickly and by means
of tighter regulations on the classification of dangerous substances moving through tunnels;

11.
Believes that the Member States and the applicant countries should set up national road-safety pro-
grammes with strategies for achieving their objectives; considers that the Commission should coordinate,
report and publish the achievements of the Member States every year;

12.
Believes that the next road-safety programme should address the main road-safety issues common
to all Member States which comprise: excess and inappropriate speed, excess alcohol or any other sub-
stances that may impair driving ability, the high accident risk of young, novice drivers, education from an
early age in road-user behaviour, training, non-use of protective equipment such as seat belts and crash
helmets, too many untreated high-risk accident spots, insufficient crash protection provided by vehicles
and infrastructure;

13.
Takes the view that, in addition to developing and improving infrastructure and vehicle safety, the
safety-conscious behaviour of road-users, particularly driving behaviour, must be improved; therefore pro-
poses that measures and campaigns should be stepped up at all levels in this regard; proposes that such
measures should target those groups which are particularly prone to accidents on the roads;

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14.
Believes that, among the measures taken to reduce the effects of accidents, top priority at Com-
munity level should be given to the promotion of the use of helmets by motorcyclists, as is already done
for the use of seat belts and child restraint systems; believes therefore that the information and promotion
campaign aimed at young motorcyclists in Europe should be accompanied by a recommendation to the
laws should make the wearing of helmets compulsory for motorcyclists
Member States that national
regardless of their age and the type of vehicle involved;

Considers that an EU road-safety policy must also include rescue, care and rehabilitation measures
15.
and guidelines to improve medical assistance to victims and provide better assistance in legal and social
issues to victims and their families;

16.
Considers that non-compliance with speed limits is such a widespread problem that stricter action is
called for in order to improve road safety; asks the Commission to examine what kind of controls and
substantial sanctions would lead to significantly better compliance with speed limits; believes that, based
on this analysis, the Commission should make concrete recommendations to Member States as part of the
new action programme;

Emphasises that experience and skill make for safer drivers; further notes that there are 10 000 EU
17.
deaths in the 15-24 year-old age group and invites the Commission, in its forthcoming proposal on driv-
ing licences, to emphasize the need for high quality education throughout the Union and to consider a
scheme involving stepwise education and increased demands on novice drivers with new licences;

Recalls its previous resolutions in which it called for the EU to require a mandatory safety audit and

18.
safety impact assessment on all EU-funded transport infrastructure;

19.
Supports the Commission’s recommendation to encourage Member States and regional and local
authorities to calculate and monitor expenditure on road-safety measures, in order to compare it with
savings from avoided fatalities, and also to increase their investment in this field; furthermore, believes
that the EU should set an example with its transport safety budget line;

Invites those Member States which are party to the Schengen Convention to complete the work
20.
already initiated aimed at drawing up a cooperation agreement on proceedings for road-traffic offences
and the enforcement of penalties imposed in respect thereof;

21.
Believes that road-safety policy must be seen in the context of the overall policy on sustainable
mobility, implying more integrated use of all transport modes and promotion of more environmentally
friendly modes of transport, such as rail, inland waterways, short sea shipping and combined transport,
as well as the promotion of public passenger transport, in order to reduce the impact of road transport;
takes the view that it is also necessary to consider environmental aspects in the EU road-safety policy
debate, assessing the effects of noise and air pollution generated by road traffic on public health and the
urban environment, and adapting road-safety policy to these findings;

22.

Invites the car manufacturers to design vehicles with safety equipment as standard;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Economic and

23.
Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions and the governments of the Member States.