In 2003 the Commission published Saving 20000 lives on our roads, a shared responsibility, also known as the third European Road Safety Action Programme (RSAP). The RSAP describes concrete actions and proposals for actions by the Commission aimed at realising the target for improving road safety as set in the White Paper (European Transport Policy for 2010: time to decide, 2001), namely halving the number of road deaths by 2010. Improving road safety in the EU is clearly a joint responsibility. Not only the Commission, but also, and even more so, national governments (policy makers, traffic police, managers of infrastructure, etc.), road users and car manufacturers can influence the number and impact of road accidents. The RSAP sets out various lines of action involving the Commission and these actors, but in itself is only one factor. The combined effort of all is envisaged to substantially improve road safety, resulting in the reduction of road deaths. The present Impact Assessment covers the economic, environmental and social impact of the Road Safety Action Programme. It analyses the available policy options, and assesses the risks and uncertainty of the assumptions. On the basis of the results achieved so far (until 2004), an assessment is made of the need to adjust the current RSAP. The impact assessment will be used by the Commission to formally verify that the intervention is based on a coherent strategy, which is relevant to the needs, problems and issues that it is supposed to address. It also assesses whether the strategy is in line with other public interventions and checks whether the necessary monitoring and evaluation system are being designed into the revised Action Programme. (Author/publisher)
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