Brussels, 05/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - This year the Commission is expected to revise a whole raft of road safety rules. The first announcements are already planned for the beginning of March. During the European Charter for Road Safety 2015 prize-giving awards on Wednesday 4 February, the European Commissioner for Transport, explained that her services were already making preparations for this revision.
The rules on the training and qualifications for professional drivers could be revised, as well as the safety rules for road infrastructure. Data and analysis on serious injuries is currently taking place, as well as analysis of fatal accidents. These statistics are expected to be presented at the beginning of March, together with new measures to bring these figures down. The Commissioner stated: “More than 26, 000 people still die on our roads every year, and many more suffer horrific road traffic injuries. That is why I hope we can all work together to save thousands of lives”.
She awarded prizes to four organisations and a multinational for their efforts in support of innovative and sustainable solutions to improve road safety. The organisations that received awards are the Attikes Diadromes (Greece, youth education), Cycle-Smart Foundation (United Kingdom, promoting the use of bicycle helmets), PKP Polish State Railways (Poland, promoting safety at railway level crossings), the Automobile Club of Portugal (education programme) and the global healthcare company Sanofi, which succeeded in reducing the number of road accidents by 10% for its sales teams by promoting a road safety training plan. (MD)