Reasons why road safety professionals and decision makers in Britain should see their work in a European context are presented. The variation between Member States of the European Union in the level of risk involved in using the roads is illustrated, and the extent to which other Member States have road safety strategies focused upon research-based casualty reduction targets is reviewed. These countries’ visions, targets and strategies, especially those of Sweden and The Netherlands, are discussed. The evolving role of the European Union itself in road safety policy and its implementation, and the influence thereon of the European Transport Safety Council, are examined. Implications for road safety policy in Britain and for the United Kingdom as a Member State are discussed with reference to influencing European policy and practice, the example of getting pedestrian protection built into cars, the balance between harmonisation and subsidiarity, the 1 M criterion of cost-effectiveness, realism about traffic growth and reduction, the relationship between central and local government, the importance of sustained enforcement of traffic law, the scope for reshaping the local road system and for road safety engineering, the desirability of reducing the blood alcohol limit to 50mg/100ml, the importance of avoiding encouraging motorcycling whilst working with those who choose to do so, and the desirability of adopting Central European Time. The need to promote effective safety measures in the face of initial public reluctance to accept them, the importance of Ministerial commitment and its communication both to the public and to road safety professionals, and the importance of backing this up by the allocation of human and financial resources are stressed. In conclusion, the ethos of British road safety strategy is expressed as `working together for safe roads for all of us to use safely' and `that the risk of death or serious injury while using the roads should be no greater than the average risk while engaging in other typical everyday activities' is proposed as a British road safety vision, implying between 250 and 1000 deaths per year in road accidents in Britain as the level at which policy for road safety can be merged into a wider policy for safety in everyday life. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting