2015 a milestone for EU Road Safety Action Programme

The workshop to discuss the preparation of the interim evaluation of the Road Safety Action Programme 2011-2020, organised by the European Commission's Road Safety Unit, was attended by the main stakeholders involved in road safety, including the European Road Federation (ERF).
December 22, 2014 Read time: 2 mins

The workshop to discuss the preparation of the interim evaluation of the Road Safety Action Programme 2011-2020, organised by the European Commission's Road Safety Unit, was attended by the main stakeholders involved in road safety, including the European Road Federation (ERF).

The ERF presented its recommendations to achieve the 2020 targets from an infrastructure perspective, focussing on three areas: Establishment of minimum safety performance for road infrastructure elements in the TEN-T (road markings and signs, road safety barriers); Improvement of data collection and data availability; Adaptation of road infrastructure to the needs of vulnerable road users.

Next year will be a milestone for road safety in Europe as the ten-year action plan reaches its midpoint. The action plan's main goal is to reduce the number of fatalities on Europe's roads by 50 per cent by 2020 compared to 2010 levels. To achieve this, seven strategic objectives have been identified: education and training of users, enforcement, infrastructure, safer vehicles, ITS and vulnerable road users.

There is a broad consensus that the European Commission has played a key role by coordinating actions and boosting national initiatives. The importance of exchange of best practices, creation of platform for specialists, working groups, standards or technical harmonisation was stressed during the discussions.

The need to improve the safety of vulnerable road users was also highlighted, including not only motorcyclists, but also cyclists, especially in urban areas. A better coordination between different Commission departments could also facilitate the exploration of horizontal synergies and links between policy areas.

In addition to the assessment of the first five years, participants also looked ahead until 2020. In this sense, discussions focused on the road user perspective (i.e. education and training, first-aid training, enforcement) and technical developments (i.e. infrastructure, ITS, active safety, emergency care issues, etc).

Urban Traffic Control

Related Content

  • January 30, 2012
    Cross border enforcement a logical step
    The logic supporting a cross-border enforcement Directive for the European Union (EU) is both detailed and compelling. The White Paper on European transport policy published in 2001 included the ambitious objective of reducing by 50 per cent by 2010 the number of people killed on the roads of the EU. But since 2005 the reduction in the number of road deaths has been slowing down: overall, the period from 2001 until 2009 saw the number of fatalities decrease by 36 per cent. According to Community indicators,
    Read More
  • November 23, 2016
    New partnership aims to make roads safer for motorcyclists
    Highways England, the company responsible for running over 4000 miles of England’s motorways and major trunk roads, is to become the third partner in a collaboration to improve motorcycle rider safety. The government-owned company will join the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA) as an equal partner in facilitating practical changes to roads, as detailed in a jointly written whitepaper: Realising the Motorcycling Opportunity: A Motorcycle Safety and Trans
    Read More
  • November 10, 2015
    ERF launches position paper aimed at improving Europe’s traffic signs
    The European Union Road Federation (ERF) has launched its position paper, Improved Signage for better Roads: An ERF Position Paper towards improving Traffic Signs in European Roads, which is aimed at a broad range of stakeholders and seeks to identify key actions that ERF and its members believe should be prioritised so that traffic signs can continue serving the needs of Europe’s road users. Vertical signage is an essential element not only of a modern and well-maintained road infrastructure, but also o
    Read More
  • February 1, 2012
    Include ITS in policy decisions from the start, not as an afterthought
    DG TREN's Fotis Karamitsos, on why the European Commission's new ITS Action Plan is looking to the past for future direction. The European Commission's (EC's) new Action Plan for the Deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems in Europe, which was announced as 2008 drew to a close, intends that transport and travel become 'cleaner; more efficient, including energy efficient; and safer and more secure'. At first sight, that wording might be interpreted as marking a significant policy shift within Europe, wit
    Read More

Highlighted Content