In 2012, some 28,000 people died on EU roads. As well as the unbearable human cost, road casualties cost 2% of European GDP. In this briefing, ETSC outlines its recommendations on the key EU road safety policy dossiers to be steered by the Greek presidency of the European Union in the first half of 2014. These include securing agreements on EU legislation on automated in-vehicle emergency calling (eCall) and safer lorry design. We also examine the main recent and forthcoming policy initiatives from the European Commission including progress on in-vehicle safety technologies such as Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) for professional vehicles and alcohol interlocks for certain vehicle and driver categories, with recommendations for maximising the results for road safety. ETSC is calling on the Greek presidency to promote the uptake of these technologies in the EU. In the final part of this briefing, we examine Greece’s own track record on road safety with recommendations for improvement. (Author/publisher)
Abstract