Brussels, 16/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - Loyola de Palacio, Commissioner for Transport, briefly set out the actions the European commission is envisaging taking to attain its objective of reducing by half the number of those killed on the roads by 2010 (currently: 40,000 people), on Thursday at the celebration of the first anniversary of the Red Cross European road safety campaign (see EUROPE of 11 September, p.16). The Commissioner welcomed the way the campaign had gone (most Member States devoted September 14 to road safety and first aid) and referred to her wish to see it continue and especially be extended to countries candidates for accession.
Other than several draft directives already on the table, like the compulsory wearing of safety belts for coach drivers and safety in tunnels (which should be on the agenda of the 4 October Transport Council), Ms. de Palacio will next year present her third action plan for road safety (2002-2010), still under discussion in the Energy and Transport Directorate General. The Commissioner set out the more significant actions, including: location and signalling of especially dangerous parts of the road network, safety auditing for all benefiting from Community funding, better driver-training, more attention paid to cases of injuries and people without protection (like motorbike riders). Furthermore, she is working with Commissioner Antonio Vittorino (Justice and Home Affairs) on the harmonisation of sanctions within the EU and the setting up of an identical infringement control system for all Member States.
Despite the number of people killed or injured annually, Ms de Palacio considers that neither the public nor Member states seems to have seized the magnitude of the problem, nor recognised the need for the measures proposed. For example, the regulatory proposal on the level of alcohol behind the wheel has been included on the Council's agenda 18 times without agreement having been reached. "Member States often invoke the principle of subsidiarity", she explains, adding that the cost of the measures proposed were also invoked to postpone, reject even, some of them. Yet, the Commissioner stresses that the cost of road accidents is also enormous: "some 160 billion euro a year, or 2% of the EU's GDP". However, certain cultural barriers, even certain paradoxical situations, may lie at the root of these reservations. Thus, to take the example of the level of alcohol behind the wheel, in most EU countries, this level is 0.5%. Yet one of them sets this rate at 0.7%, but, paradoxically, "this country is one of the best students regarding road accidents", de Palacio explains. Obviously thus difficult to justify a lowering of the level! For the Commissioner, that proves that controlling legislation is not sufficient. Other example: safety belts in coaches. "Everything is being slowed down because one Member state does not want to introduce these belts as, instead of seating three children on a seat for two, as is done in practice, they could only seat two". (For information on the days dedicated to road safety within Member states: http: //http://www.redcrosseu.net ).