Despite the enormous increase in traffic-based services on the roads Germany and other European countries have succeeded in markedly improving road safety. So, although there were still 5,842 people killed on the roads in Germany in 2004, this figure was over 70% lower than in 1970. The picture is basically the same in the rest of Europe, where there have also been successes in improving road safety. There are a number of reasons for this development: our cars have become safer; measures for active and passive safety have been taking effect, dangerous stretches of road have been.made less hazardous – and new laws have also contributed to increased road safety. In Germany, the most important of these has been the law making it compulsory to wear a seat belt. By no means the least important contributory factor has been the legal requirement for periodic inspection of the vehicles on our roads, a measure which has now been introduced throughout Europe. It has resulted in our vehicle stock being in better technical condition and thereby increasing road safety still further. However, this positive trend must not be allowed to blind us to the fact that 40.000 people die on Europe’s roads every year. This is a situation we cannot disregard. That is why DEKRA was among the very first signatories of the European Commission’s EU Road Safety Charter, which has as its aim the reduction of road deaths in Europe to 25,000 by the year 2010. This DEKRA Technical Paper presents a picture of the technical safety of the cars on the roads.
Samenvatting