Skip to main content

ETSC highlights European safety improvements

The European Transport Safety Commission’s (ETSC) 16th Road Safety Report measures progress made in EU countries since 2001 in tackling excessive speed, drink-driving and non-use of seat belts (the three biggest causes of road fatalities). It is published as the EU discusses priorities for the forthcoming Road Safety Action Programme for the next ten years. Available data shows that drivers have slowed down since 2001. Best progress has been made on highways (only up to 30% of drivers now exceed the speed l
May 30, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The 5801 European Transport Safety Commission’s (ETSC) 16th Road Safety Report measures progress made in 3287 EU countries since 2001 in tackling excessive speed, drink-driving and non-use of seat belts (the three biggest causes of road fatalities). It is published as the EU discusses priorities for the forthcoming Road Safety Action Programme for the next ten years.

Available data shows that drivers have slowed down since 2001. Best progress has been made on highways (only up to 30% of drivers now exceed the speed limit) but violations are still up to 70% on rural roads (as much as 80% on urban roads).

France is the only country to have achieved considerable reductions in mean speeds on all types of roads. Great Britain and Austria recorded reductions in mean speeds on both urban roads and highways.

Key factors in achieving progress were automated speed enforcement schemes based on safety cameras and stricter sanctions through penalty point systems and higher fines.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Call for Government action after first UK road casualty rise since 2003
    June 28, 2012
    Road Safety Foundation (RSF) director, Dr Joanne Marden, has urged the government to get road safety policies “back on track” after new official figures revealed the first annual UK road casualty increase for eight years. The figures, contained in a government report titled Reported Road Casualties in Great Britain: 2011, show that the annual number of people killed in road accidents increased by 3% from 1,850 in 2010 to 1,901 in 2011 – the first increase since 2003 despite a levelling off of vehicle traff
  • Road safety improvement from 1960-2009
    November 11, 2013
    A study carried out by a researcher in the University of Nottingham reveals improving safety on British roads. The study focussed on data from England and Wales and shows that fatality levels in 2009 were 41% lower than in 1960. The study highlighted several key factors as having improved safety and reduced the death toll including the mandatory use of child seats and seat belts and car design changes, as well as specialist trauma centres and more rigid enforcement of drink-drive laws and speed limits. One
  • TISPOL 2017: Europe’s road safety record suffers as austerity bites hard
    December 21, 2017
    Police budgets are being slashed, staff numbers are falling and Europe’s long-term trend towards ever-fewer road deaths has ground to a halt. Does Europe’s road network face a far more dangerous future? Geoff Hadwick reports from TISPOL 2017 in Manchester, UK. Europe’s road safety record is under threat. Lower and lower funding levels have become a very serious, and very worrying, problem for the EU’s traffic police bosses. They know that they must find new ways to focus road users on changing their beha
  • AECOM seatbelt and phone use trial expanded
    March 8, 2024
    More police forces in the UK are joining the National Highways’ trial of safety cameras that automatically detect motorists breaking seatbelt and mobile phone use laws.