Road safety, transport research and the European Community.

This paper reviews the traffic safety situation in Europe, and discusses both the research and policy needs, partly on the basis of the so-called Gerondeau-report to the EC Commissioner of Transport by the high-level expert group for a European policy for road safety. The safety of different passenger transport modes (road, rail, air and water) is compared. Differences in both their safety levels and in the research methods used are discussed. The paper also discusses the temporary activities of the European Community in relation to road safety in transport research, and evaluates differences in policy and research activities within the frameworks of the Committee of the European Ministers of Transport (CEMT) and the OECD. The aims and organization of the 1991 constituted Forum of European Road Safety Institutes (FERSI) are presented. The recent involvement of FERSI in EC - affairs is also discussed.