A conference on road safety organised by the Belgian Presidency jointly with the Commission and the Parliament takes place in the European Parliament in Brussels. The debate is a part of the third European Road Safety Day. The objective is to raise the profile of all activities which aim to save lives on European roads.

Brussels

conference

SIMPSON, Brian (S&D, UK)

road safety (T)

Road safety: extracts from the conference

SOUNDBITE (English), Brian SIMPSON (S&amp;D, UK), Speed, drink driving, fairly to wear a seatbelt or to stop at the red light. These four offences are responsible for the most fatalities in the European Union. It intends to establish to a procedure for exchanging information between Member states through an electronic data exchange network. And this will identify a vehicle which has committed an offence.

SOUNDBITE (English), Brian SIMPSON (S&amp;D, UK), Estimates show than at least 400 lives a year could be saved with the decent directive based on the Commission's proposals. With the growth in a number of automated fixed safety cameras on the EU roads, even more lives might be saved in the future.

SOUNDBITE (English), Brian SIMPSON (S&amp;D, UK), The data on offences of non-residence drivers should not only be exchanged, but should also be followed up in the form of penalties.

SOUNDBITE (English), Antonio AVENOSO, Executive Director of the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), Safest countries in the European Union now are Sweden, the UK and the Netherlands.

SOUNDBITE (English), Antonio AVENOSO, Executive Director of the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), We estimated that if all cars on the European Union roads could slow down by one kilometre an hour. One, I say only one, we could prevent 2200 deaths a year. So the life saving potential of reducing speed is enormous. Also because speed is widespread phenomenon on motor ways in free flowing traffic. 30% of people are speeding, this percentage goes up to 70% when we consider rural roads. And it goes up to 80% on urban areas.

SOUNDBITE (French), Mich&#232;le MERLI, French Interministerial Delegate for Road Safety, In 2009 4.5 million offenses were recorded by the speed cameras. An average of 25% these vehicles were registered abroad and that goes to the 50% during the summer months.

SOUNDBITE (French), Mich&#232;le MERLI, French Interministerial Delegate for Road Safety, On our roads by such vehicles has lead to be more accidents on our road than that would have been normally. So not only we have an access of accidents caused by speed but unfortunately everybody who is excepted to limiting their speed in contributively to reduction of deaths, when they are systematically been pushed on by vehicles which are speeding, then you find that the entirely traffic senses to speed up, because people are pushing them forward.