EU Sets Target for Reducing Serious Road Injuries

The European Union aims to halve the number of serious injuries on member countries’ roads by 2030 from a 2020 baseline, with a special focus on the number of pedestrians and cyclists killed or seriously hurt each year.

This is in addition to the existing target of halving the number of road deaths on EU roads by 2020 from the 2010 baseline.

The European Council’s conclusions on road safety will feed into the next EU strategy on road safety, which is expected to be developed for the decade 2020-2030.

Brake, a U.K. road-safety charity, welcomes the EU announcement, saying targets are essential.

CEO Mary Williams says the goals “focus governments’ minds on the crisis, and the need for urgent steps to be taken by them to save lives. All governments should focus on measures that drive towards zero casualties through a safe-systems approach.ˮ

Williams says Brake particularly is calling for measures that protect pedestrians and cyclists such as segregated road space, 20-mph (30-km/h) limits and vehicle-design improvements such as intelligent speed-adaptation systems that ensure a vehicle does not exceed a safe or legally enforced speed; and advanced automated emergency-braking systems now under consideration by the EU.

Earlier this year, EU transport ministers meeting in Malta said the EU’s persistently high number of traffic fatalities – 26,100 in 2015 – and serious road-traffic injuries represent a major societal problem causing human suffering and unacceptable economic costs.

They estimated those costs at €50 billion ($56 billion) a year for fatal accidents and more than 100 billion ($112 billion) when serious accidents are included.

An EU report on the meeting says there has been a steady and promising trend toward meeting the common target of halving the number of road deaths between 2010 and 2020, but fatality-reduction rates have plateaued in recent years.

“Of particular concern is the number of fatalities and serious injuries among pedestrians and cyclists,” the report says. “The target has therefore become extremely challenging and, unless further efforts are made, it may not be met.”

Efforts to improve road safety should not be measured only by counting road deaths, the report says, the number of serious injuries is five times higher than the number of road deaths.

“The situation with regard to road safety varies widely across the member states,” the report says. “A special effort should be made in those cases where road safety is below the European Union average, supported by close cooperation and knowledge exchange among member states.”

Speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and being distracted or tired while driving continue to be among the major causes of traffic collisions and the report says failure to use protective equipment aggravates the severity of injuries.

Meantime, Germany is inviting EU member states, industry and the European Commission to take part in a dialogue on automated and connected driving Sept. 14-15 on the sidelines of the IAA International Motor Show in Frankfurt.

“High-level structural dialogues on automated and connected driving provide a forum for member states to exchange views and best practices with regard to the development and deployment of automated and connected driving and to monitor progress,” an EU statement says.