ETSC Publishes 2nd Road Safety PIN Report

23 June 2008. The EU has set itself the ambitious target of reducing the yearly number of road deaths by 50% between 2001 and 2010. The European Transport Safety Council has just published its 2nd PIN Report that shows how countries have progressed in reducing road deaths between 2001 and 2007.

Comparison of developments up to 2007 shows that France (43%), Portugal (42%) and Luxembourg (38%) have progressed best over the past six years. If these three countries maintain their efforts they will reach the target ahead of 2010. Belgium, Germany and Switzerland have also reduced their road death toll considerably since 2001 and may halve the number of road deaths by 2013. While the first four countries have a medium level of safety, Germany and Switzerland have been frontrunners in Europe for some time. This confirms that fast progress in road safety is possible for all countries, whatever their starting point.

Other countries have progressed to a lesser extent. In Romania, Slovenia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Poland, the number of road deaths was higher in 2007 than in 2001.

For the first time since 2001, 2007 saw no reduction in the total number of road deaths in the EU. If current trends continue, the European Union will only reach its target in 2018. Strong leadership is needed to bring about renewed efforts ahead of 2010 and make up for lost time.

The frontrunners...

France has made exemplary progress since 2001 in reducing deaths on its roads and is not letting up the pressure either. Between 2001 and 2007 the number of road deaths has dropped by 43%. Alongside political will from the highest level came a new “Zero Tolerance” of speeding offences and the introduction of a fully automated speed management system. Following on from the French government's previous policy to “fight against road violence” earlier this year President Sarkozy proposed a whole raft of new and forward thinking measures to tackle deaths on the roads. For combating drink driving this includes the introduction of alcolock rehabilitation programmes and alcolocks in all school buses.

In Luxembourg, in 2004, the new elected government made road safety one of its top priorities. Transport Minister Lucien Lux has since initiated numerous measures, including important changes to the Traffic Law. Since 1 October 2007, Luxembourg has a legal blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.5g/l (instead of 0.8g/l), and 0.2g/l for novice and professional drivers. The new law also extends police powers to allow for on-the-spot withdrawal of the driving licence in cases of the most serious drink driving and speeding offences.

Switzerland, for example, one of the best-performing countries in road safety, was able to cut road deaths by 29% over the last six years. “The main reason for this good result has been a better control of two of the main causes of accidents, speeding and drink driving,” says Stefan Siegrist from the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention. Both the number of drivers checked for speed and the number of drivers checked for alcohol doubled between 2000 and 2006. This increase in police enforcement has been backed up by a reduction in the legal BAC from 0.8 g/l to 0.5 g/l and an improved sanction regime for repeat offenders. The new Traffic Law, which came into effect on January 2005, also empowered the police to run random breath tests.

With a 7% drop in deaths, Ireland and Spain recorded last year the biggest reductions. Italy and Hungary follow closely with 6% reduction.

In 2004, Spain adopted a strategic road safety plan for 2005-2008 aimed at 40% reduction in traffic deaths. A penalty point system was introduced in July 2006. Some 500 fixed radars were installed along the national road network. In December 2007, a reform of the Criminal Code was enacted which made drink driving (BAC above 1.2g/l), speeding (by more than 60km/h in urban areas or by more the 80km/h in interurban areas) and driving without licence criminal offenses. Besides increased enforcement, road safety authorities use the national media on a daily basis trying to raise the level of intolerance towards traffic offences among the public. The reduction in the number of deaths in the first months of 2008 may be the sign that these reforms are bearing fruit.

In Hungary penalties have been increased, and a drink driving “zero tolerance” policy was enacted under which drunk drivers see their license withdrawn immediately if caught. As a result of these and other measures Hungary has seen a 35.7% drop in road deaths in the first quarter of 2008.

Ireland's efforts to reduce roads deaths were helped by the implementation of a comprehensive set of measures in the 2007-2012 Road Safety Strategic Plan. The last two years saw the introduction of random breath testing and tougher penalties for drink driving offences, with disqualification periods for drunk drivers now ranging from 1 to 6 years. To enforce this new legislation the number of full time police officers in the Traffic Corps has increased from 500 to 1,200 since 2004. Finally, this legislation has also been underlined by hard hitting mass media TV campaigns which have brought about a progressive cultural shift against drink driving, realization of its mortal impact and support for more severe penalties and lower BAC.

The 2nd Road Safety PIN Annual Report is available at

http://www.etsc.be/documents/copy_of_copy_of_2nd%20PIN%20Annual%20Report%202008.pdf