2015 was the second consecutive poor year for road safety: 26,300 people lost their lives on EU roads in 2015 compared to 25,970 in 2014, representing an increase of 1%. A 9.7% annual reduction is now needed every year between 2015 and 2020 in order to reach the EU target for 2020 to halve the number of road deaths. The drastic slowdown in progress puts at risk the region’s target of halving road deaths by 2020. 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 Slovak Presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2016. These include preparing for the new EU roads package, including the safety aspects. ETSC welcomes the Slovak initiative to put traffic safety education on their Presidency agenda with an autumn conference looking at gradual and continuous training and lifelong learning. The briefing also examines the upcoming policy initiatives from the European Commission including progress towards the 2020 target with recommendations for maximising the results of road safety work. (Author/publisher)
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