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

  • TM 2.0 boost TMC data feed and driver influence
    November 15, 2017
    TM 2.0 views connected vehicles and V2I as two-way communications channels, benefitting traffic management and drivers, as Alan Dron discovers. As connected vehicles are progressively rolled out there will come a point at which traffic managers and traffic management centres (TMCs) will have to gear up to cope with a rapidly-evolving road scenario. The TM 2.0 Platform (see box) is promoting a concept of new-generation traffic management (which carries the same TM 2.0 title) and is studying how future T
    Read More
  • Study shows road markings deliver cost-effective road safety
    June 20, 2012
    Road markings are among the most cost-effective solutions to make roads safer. A recent study carried out for the American Glass Bead Manufacturer’s Association quantifies by just how much Despite only making up 23% of the US mileage, fatalities on America’s rural two-lane highways made up 57% of all traffic fatalities in 2009 — resulting in more than $77Bn in losses for that year alone. Moreover, a rural motorist is 2.7 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash per mile travelled than their urban
    Read More
  • Hot topics at ITS Australia conference
    May 15, 2014
    The challenges of congested city transport systems and safety were the hot topics at the intelligent transport systems (ITS) business exchange conference held recently in Melbourne featuring speakers and delegates from Asia, Australia, Europe, USA and New Zealand. Hosted by ITS Australia, the conference attracted 200 participants from seven nations and facilitated an international exchange about innovative technologies and successfully deployed solutions to major transport issues across public, private a
    Read More
  • EU regions urge adequate funding for sustainable transport
    April 21, 2015
    The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is concerned by the lack of investment by the EU in the transport sector. According to regions and cities, very little progress has been made also in integrating the European transport market in the last four years. These concerns were debated by CoR members at the 16 April plenary session, which saw the adoption of the opinion on the implementation of the 2011 European Commission White Paper on Transport, aiming to create a single European transport area. The
    Read More

Highlighted Content