The European Commission has released its Road Safety Policy Framework, outlining safety standards for vehicles and infrastructure for the 2021-2030 period.
The non-binding framework, launched by the EU’s Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc at the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC)’s Road Safety Performance Index Conference this week, follows the earlier publication of a road safety policy ‘action plan’ in May 2018; and includes key developments regarding the collection of road safety data.
Under the new standards, the key performance indicators to gauge Member States’ performance on risk reduction are:
- Speed – tracking national percentages of drivers observing the speed limit;
- Safety belt – monitoring percentages of appropriate use of in-car safety belts and child restraints;
- Protective equipment – observing numbers of bicycle and motorcycle riders wearing the necessary safety equipment;
- Alcohol – observing percentages of drivers adhering to the national legal limit for blood alcohol content;
- Distraction – tracking the percentage of drivers not using a mobile phone or device while in transit;
- Vehicle safety – Monitoring numbers of newly built vehicles whose Euro New Car Assessment Programme safety rating meets an agreed target;
- Infrastructure – tracking the collective distance driven on roads which meet agreed safety standards; and
- Post-crash care – tracking average times between calls to the emergency services after a traffic collision and the arrival of emergency services at the scene.
ETSC Policy Director Ellen Townsend said: “We welcome the Commission’s plan to start collecting information on how Member States are performing on reducing the main risks in road safety. The Commission’s road safety framework for the next ten years is going in the right direction in many areas. We sincerely hope the new Commission and Parliament will quickly develop the plans and start to propose ambitious, legally binding measures.”
Member States will set individual road safety targets in co-ordination with the Commission, to be rolled out next year.
