Transport Council debates Road Safety Mid-Term Review

Publication date: 27 March 2006

The Commission presented the results of the Mid-Term Review (COM(2006) 74) of the European Road Safety Action Programme "Halving the number of road accidents victims in the European Union by 2010", which was presented in 2003. The Council held an exchange of views on this issue and intends to adopt Conclusions on Road Safety at its meeting on 8-9 June 2006.

com2006_74_review_safety.pdf (249 KB)

Since 2001 the European Union has succeeded in putting road safety at the top of the agenda of the Member States' political concerns, with the joint target (proposed in 2001 and updated after enlargement in 2004) to halve the number of road accident fatalities by 2010.

The Commission's figures show that in 2001, 50 000 people were killed on the roads in the countries which today make up the European Union. The figures for 2005 show there were 41 600 road deaths, a fall of 17.5% over four years. At the present rate, there are likely to be 32 500 road deaths in the European Union in 2010, which is still above the maximum target of 25 000.

To achieve the objective, the Commission considers that more effort will be needed at national and European level. The Commission plans to propose new legislative measures in the course of the Mid Term Review of its White Paper on Transport Policy (expected in April 2006) which will in particular concern cross border prosecution of traffic offenders, fitting lorries with "blind spot" rearview mirrors, and daytime running lights.

The Council took note of suggestion of the Italian delegation to create a European Agency for Road Safety.

Related News Items:
- FIA: More must be done to abate Carnage on the Roads (23 February 2006)
- Mid-term review of Road Safety Action Programme (22 February 2006)