Bregenz, 03/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Union will be launching an EU road safety campaign next year, announced Austrian transport minister Hubert Gorbach at a press conference on 3 March following the Bregenz Transport Council (see related article). An exchange of views showed that drink driving was the main road safety concern in the Member States, he explained, but other concerns had also been raised, like driver fatigue, children's safety and using mobile phones while driving. The EU road safety campaign will try and made drivers more aware of the importance of improving road safety in the EU and may take the form of posters along major EU roads. The EU's group of road safety experts has been instructed to prepare subjects for the campaign and look at costs. The EU budget may provide funding from the EUR 6 to 7 million euros it has available each year for road safety programmes. Member States' involvement will be voluntary, explained the President of the Council, adding that most Member States supported the idea.
At their meeting in Bregenz, EU transport ministers visited the OAMTC road safety training centre on Thursday afternoon. The visit looked at 'Crossing Borders in e-Safety' and the ministers were briefed on recent e-safety trends and were given a road safety training course in vehicles equipped with the latest technology, explains an Austrian Presidency press release, adding that the ministers also attended a presentation of road safety innovations.