Commission published new road safety review
The Commission's work on road safety in 2011-2020 is guided by a policy framework which targets a halving of the number of road deaths over the period. The Commission has conducted an interim evaluation of the policy framework, taking stock of action taken to date and assessing progress made towards the target.
The Commission's main conclusions are:
- The policy framework remains relevant
- The fatality reduction target is an important tool
- The target is still within reach, but will be a challenge
- More attention needs to be paid to vulnerable road‑users and serious injuries
- Future challenges: an ageing population, distracting technical devices
No target to reduce serious injuries
It was expected that the report would set targets to not only reduce road deaths but also reduce serious injuries. Such a target had been announced several times by transport Commissioner Violate Bulc and has already been strongly supported by member states and the European Parliament. However, no targets to reduce serious injuries are included in the report.
The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) understands that the decision to drop the target came from a high level in the European Commission, but no explanation has been given publically on why there has been a sudden u-turn. In a letter sent on Tuesday, a coalition of more than 50 experts and organisations including POLIS as well as 11 MEPs asked President Juncker for his “assurance that the…target will be proposed in the coming weeks.”
More information
- The interim evaluation report is available online here.
- More information on the report and accompanying documents. click here.
- More information on the open letter to President Juncker, consult the related Polis news item "Call for Juncker to reverse decision to drop serious road injury target", 10 June 2015
For more information, please contact Dagmar Köhler.