On Tuesday 10 April, European Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc presented some encouraging results on the reduction in the number of fatalities on European roads in 2017. The Commissioner was, however, sceptical about the possibility of reaching the objective of halving the number of deaths on the roads over the 2010-2020 period.
Around 25,300 people lost their lives on EU roads in 2017, which corresponds to a 2% fall compared to 2016, while a similar percentage reduction was reached during the previous year. In 2017, it is estimated that another 135,000 people were seriously injured in road accidents. These results were provided in the context of the European Commission's statistics presented by Bulc during a press conference.
Although these losses are accounted for in significant human and economic costs to the EU, Bulc was eager to be optimistic and pointed out that, “We are making progress” and referred to the lowest death rate (49 per 1 million inhabitants) in the history of the EU, which was better than any results observed elsewhere in the world.
In this regard, the Commissioner also welcomed that, “The gap between EU countries is also closing” and added, “Some Member states have made really spectacular progress last year”. Estonia experienced a 32% reduction in the number of deaths on its roads last year, while Malta and Ireland had reductions of 17% and 15% respectively.
Bulc was also keen to point out that she was pleased with the commitments made by the member states to tackle shortcomings in road safety, particularly with the Valetta Declaration signed on 29 March 2017 (see EUROPE 11757).
In reply to a question put to her by EUROPE, Bulc stated, however, that she was afraid that “we might not reach” the 50% reduction objective in fatalities on the EU’s roads between 2010 and 2020. This is despite the fact that since 2010 this reduction has stood at an estimated 20%. The Commissioner asserted that, “If we wanted to reach the target, we would probably need to reduce road fatalities in the next few years by 14% percent [a year]”.
Given that she takes the issue of road safety very seriously, she called on the different actors to continue to work to further reduce the number of deaths on the roads. It is in this perspective on that on 16 May, she will propose the 3rd “mobility” package. The latter will include proposals to revise regulation 661/2009/EC on vehicle safety standards, directive 2008/96/EC on the management of road infrastructure safety and an action plan for road safety for the period 2020-2030. The objective over this latter period is also to reduce the number of deaths on the roads by 50%.
Bulc said, “I am confident we will move towards vision 0 for 2050”.
ETSC wants concrete action. In response to the publication of these figures, the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) regretted that the objective for the 2010-2020 period “is very likely not to be reached”. Antonio Avenoso, Executive Director of the European Transport Safety Council stated, “It’s also time to see a new long-term plan for the next decade with a clear strategy for halving the number of people that die or are seriously injured on our roads every week.” According to the ETSC, the member states have a “crucial role" to play in this connection. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)