Brussels, 22/07/2010 (Agence Europe) - The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has criticised the “weakness” of the action plan on road safety presented by the European Commission on Tuesday 20 July (EUROPE 1085). In a press release the same day, the ETSC deplores the fact that the measures proposed by the Commission do not go far enough towards meeting the goal of reducing the number of road fatalities by half by 2020. “If the EU wants to reach its 2020 target and maintain and build on its reputation as a world leader for road safety, this programme needs to be reinforced and translated urgently into determined action”, said Antonio Avenso, ETSC Executive Director, in the same press release. The organisation above all regrets that the action plan does not provide a results-related roadmap to allow progress made to be calculated. It also regrets that no action has been foreseen to meet emerging dangers such as drug use, the use of portable phones while driving, fatigue and the lack of concentration. Work-related road safety was not even tackled, the association bemoans. The ETSC also reproaches the Commission for not having prioritised action needed to address the most frequent causes of road accidents, such as excessive speed, drink driving and failure to use seat belts. The Commission “misses some easy wins”, the press release states, such as extending existing legislation on mandating seat belt reminders to every seat (front and back seats). The association also recommends introducing a uniform rate of blood alcohol content (0.2 g/l) for novice and commercial drivers. (A.By./transl.jl)