FIA confirms worries about safety on Europe’s roads

Publication date: 21 February 2008

PRESS RELEASE

Brussels, 21st February 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Newest FIA research confirms figures released last September showing an unexpected slowdown in the improvement of road safety in Europe. The just published 2007 figures indicate a reduced likelihood of reaching Europe’s target of halving fatalities by 2010 if the European Union does not urgently implement additional measures.

The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) today presented the results of its second survey concerning road casualties in Europe.
 

The survey is a follow-up to the review on road casualties in Europe carried-out six months ago during summer 2007. The previous survey showed a dramatic increase in the number of road casualties across Europe when compared against the falling figures of preceding years.
 

“Looking at the figures of the whole year we get a less worrying picture of road safety in Europe than six months ago, but the situation remains critical!”  according to Werner Kraus, Chairman of the FIA Eurocouncil.

 
The new survey confirms the general slowdown in rates of road safety improvement and upholds the fears expressed by the FIA and its member clubs. 2007 figures show a marked increase in the number of fatalities in Sweden, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Slovenia and Finland. Only some European countries including Germany, Austria and France managed to turn the situation around, recording decreases where previously there had been increases.

 
“These results support the claims issued by the FIA last September that the European Union will need to shift up a gear if it still intends to reach its target of a 50% reduction in fatalities by 2010” Werner Kraus pointed out.
 

As key road safety stakeholders the FIA and its member clubs reemphasise their call upon the European Union (EU) to implement without any further delays measures to ensure that the EU gets back on track. These include:
 

• The mandatory introduction of Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and dedicated daytime running lights (DRL) into all new passenger cars by 2012 at the latest;
• The swift adoption of the Directive on road infrastructure safety management (COM(2006) 569) called for by the European Parliament in 2005 and proposed by the European Commission in 2006;
• More work to encourage the use of seatbelts across Europe as well as the mandatory introduction of seat belt reminders for all seats in all passenger cars and
• More work to increase personal awareness of responsible driving, targeting driver behaviour through education and enforcement.

“These preliminary figures give only a snapshot. More in-depth analysis is still required. However, they are sufficiently compelling to urge all governments and organisations involved in road safety to redouble their efforts to improve safety on Europe’s roads” Werner Kraus concluded.
 

NOTES FOR THE EDITORS

- The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the world’s leading motoring organisation, represents via its affiliated members, national motoring and touring organisations over 100 million motorists worldwide and 34 million motorists in the European Union. Europe’s motoring and touring organisations have as their highest priority to make mobility more sustainable, i.e. more reliable, cleaner and safer while keeping it affordable for all.

- Figures from FIA clubs were based on a variety of sources including: police and traffic agency reports, government research and the clubs’ own surveys.

- In some European countries, the number of fatalities has risen compared to the reference year (2006). The Czech Republic (+17 %), Denmark (+34 %), Finland (+13 %), Slovenia (+12 %) and Sweden (+ 6%) are illustrations of this negative trend. In some other European countries, the number of fatalities has decreased compared to 2006. Austria (-6 %), Italy (-11 %), France (-2 %) and Spain (-9 %) are illustrations of this positive trend.

- The figures do not represent official EU statistics and are collected on the basis of ongoing research into road fatalities. Also they do not reflect a fixed time period. Timescales, and indeed methods of reporting and calculating vary between different European countries.

- Road safety is one of the priorities of the FIA member clubs. They are involved in different projects helping to make the roads in Europe safer. Examples of these projects at a European level are: the European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP), EuroTest (a programme testing the quality and safety of mobility in Europe), the European Tunnel Assessment Programme (EuroTAP), the New Programme for the Assessment of Child-restraint Systems (NPACS) and the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP).

- For more information please contact: Olivier Lenz - Tel. +32 2 282 08 25