EU transport ministers have set themselves the target of cutting annual road deaths by 50% between 2001 and 2010. Accession countries, one by one, adopted similar objectives at a national level, and the EU target was revised to include these countries. How far have we come since then? A first review carried out by the European Commission earlier this year has found that traffic deaths in the EU have dropped by only 17-18%. Are Member States dragging their feet? This first ranking under the Road Safety Performance Index (PIN) shows that some countries are contributing fully to the European target even though the majority do not. Over the last four years, France has achieved an outstanding 35% drop, closely followed by Luxembourg with 34%. In Belgium, the reduction has been of the order of 27%. Also countries like Portugal, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and – maybe – Italy are on track to reaching the target. They have all been able to reduce road deaths by more than 20% up to 2005. This Road Safety PIN Flash presents these developments and their backgound. It includes an interview with Interministerial Delegate Rémy Heitz, senior official under the Prime Minister’s authority, who is in charge of road safety policy in France. (Author/publisher)
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