Road safety education in the spotlight

Road safety education is severely lacking in much of Europe. That is the finding of research by the European Transport Safety Commission (ETSC). According to this new report, there are vast differences in the amount of road safety education given to children across Europe, particularly at secondary school level. The research shows that road safety education is provided to children in primary education all over Europe. However, it is not given to youngsters in secondary education in 20% of the 36 European s
January 25, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
Road safety education is severely lacking in much of Europe. That is the finding of research by the European Transport Safety Commission (ETSC). According to this new report, there are vast differences in the amount of road safety education given to children across Europe, particularly at secondary school level.


The research shows that road safety education is provided to children in primary education all over Europe. However, it is not given to youngsters in secondary education in 20% of the 36 European states and regions studied. In addition, the research shows that traffic safety and mobility education is only sparsely addressed in secondary education in most of the states and regions where it is given.

Few states and regions have a legal minimum requirement for the amount of road safety education that should be given at secondary school. And only 50% of states and regions that do offer road safety education set educational goals for what should be taught.

The risk of a road death increases sharply after 13 years of age, as children start to travel independently. For youngsters aged 15-19, road collisions are the main external cause of death. However, it is not known how effective current road safety education practices are at reducing deaths and injuries due to a lack of wide-ranging studies on the issue.

To help tackle this issue, a new event is being run in Madrid providing a focus on traffic education in Europe. This is being coordinated by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), the Flemish Foundation for Traffic Knowledge (VSV) and Fundación MAPFRE. The report has been written in collaboration with more than 30 road safety education experts from across Europe.

The Leveraging Education to Advance Road safety Now! (LEARN!) project aims to promote traffic safety and mobility education across Europe. It will boost the international community of road safety education experts and establish best practice guidelines for the design, testing, implementation and evaluation of road safety education activities and programmes.

The project has a website (%$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external www.trafficsafetyeducation.eu false http://www.trafficsafetyeducation.eu/ false false%>), with resources for road safety education experts and the possibility to sign-up for updates on the latest news, projects, best practice examples and material related to traffic safety and mobility education.

Related Content

  • PPRS in Nice: strategic but adaptable maintenance is essential
    March 26, 2018
    “The world is changing, mobility is changing and so roads must change and adapt for the future.” With this brief statement, Jacques Tavernier opened the second Pavement Preservation and Recycling Summit today. “At the same time there is a growing awareness of poor or non-existent maintenance for highways. The question for this conference is how to adapt road maintenance in the face of this challenge,” said Tavernier, addressing the opening plenary session. More than 100 speakers will present their latest
    Read More
  • European road deaths reduced but more to be done
    February 15, 2012
    While the EU target of reducing deaths by 50% has resulted in impressive figures, there is still more to be done as Patrick Smith reports. The latest statistics show European Union (EU) efforts to reduce road deaths by 50% have met with considerable success. As EU members look to the new European Action Programme for the period 2010 to 2020
    Read More
  • Enforcement lack affects safety on Europe’s roads
    June 17, 2016
    Insufficient police enforcement across Europe is damaging road safety, according to the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC). Two reports available through the ETSC say that a fall in the level of police enforcement of traffic offences is contributing to Europe’s failure to cut the numbers dying in road collisions. More than 26,000 people died on EU roads last year, the first increase since 2001 according to the ETSC annual road safety performance index (PIN) report. Exceeding speed limits, drink or
    Read More
  • Bentley Systems calls for submissions to 2016 Be Inspired Awards
    June 2, 2016
    Bentley Systems, a global provider of software solutions for advancing infrastructure, has announced a call for submissions to the 2016 Be Inspired Awards programme. The deadline for entries is June 10, 2016. The awards, which are selected by independent juries of industry experts, recognise the extraordinary work of organisations that help advance the world’s infrastructure by designing, engineering, constructing, delivering, and/or operating safer, more resilient, sustainable, and intelligent roads,
    Read More

Highlighted Content