Brussels, 27/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - After improving vehicle safety, road infrastructure and the behaviour of road users, time has now come to put in place a European system to allow the cross-border prosecution of road traffic offences. That is what Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot said on Friday at a press conference marking the first “European Road Safety Day”, which also brought an end to the UN-sponsored world road safety week. The Commission intends to present a draft directive which will add to the initiatives launched since 2001 as part the European road safety programme.
Noting that road accidents are responsible for 21% of deaths among 18-25 year olds in the EU (the major cause of death for people in this are range), Mr Barrot highlighted the three main lines of the European road safety policy: putting in place safer infrastructure, promoting safer behaviour on the part of road users and developing safer vehicles. The EU's objective is to reduce the number of road deaths in the Union by 50% by 2010 (from 50,000 in 2001 to 25,000) to reinforce road safety, it is essential that sanctions for infringements are properly enforced, Mr Barrot stressed. Hence the importance of the future directive on cross-border prosecutions which will allow an offence committed in another member State to be sanctioned. The Commissioner nonetheless pointed out that the directive will first and foremost target major road offences such as speeding and drink driving.
As far as the chapter on the development of safer vehicles is concerned, Mr Barrot floated the idea of equipping all new cars, including the least expensive bought by the young, with an electronic stability control (ESC) system which automatically corrects the vehicle's course where necessary. The Commission is also studying the possibility of promoting intelligent speed adapters (ISA) and emergency call systems (EUROPE 8773) on vehicles.
On Friday, the Commission presented the “SafetyNet” report on road accident statistics in the EU: http: //ec.europa.eu/transport/roadsafety/road_safety_observatory_rspi_en.htm. (aby)