Commission's goal to halve road deaths

The European Commission has announced a target of halving road deaths in the European Union by 2020. A total of 35,000 people died in 2009 as a result of accidents on European roads. The UK has the lowest annual road fatality rate in the EU – 38 per million inhabitants.

Towards a European Road Safety Area: policy orientations on road safety 2011-2020, sets out seven strategic objectives: improved safety measures for trucks and cars; building safer roads; developing intelligent vehicles; strengthening licensing and training; better enforcement; targeting injuries; and a new focus on motorcyclists.

The Commission has concerns over the 'vehicles of tomorrow', including electric vehicles, as some of these are radically different from traditional vehicles in ways that might affect safety. It has said that, amongst other things, it will encourage progress on the active and passive safety features of motorcycles and electric vehicles. The Commission previously set out an action plan to halve annual EU road deaths from 50,000 to 25,000 between 2001 and 2010. The Commission's latest figures show that although substantial progress has been made this goal is unlikely to be achieved.

Further information can be found on the European Commission Road Safety website...

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source: BVRLA