The political economical and social changes in the Czech Republic in the last decade have led to increasing mobility, mostly in the private sector. Some European countries achieved substantial reduction in fatalities in the turn of the century, while others, the Czech Republic is one of them, saw road safety worsen. So many accidents involving serious injury or death have serious social and financial consequences for the country as a whole. Factors associated with this are the extremely marked increase in the number of cars and motor vehicles in general and the intensity of road traffic which has more than doubled in large towns in the Czech Republic over the last decade. The current situation must be tackled by means of a co-ordinated approach in the areas of prohibition and prevention with the active participation of all the entities involved, including state authorities, public administration, businesses engaged in transport, nongovernmental organisations and civic associations, and support for the project as a whole from the general public. A National Strategy for Road Safety has been put forward by an interdepartmental working group comprising representatives of the state administration with input from other interested parties. The proposed strategy is based on: Deep analysis of the development of road accidents in the Czech Republic; the legal regulations in force in the Czech Republic as of 30 November 2003; the current powers of the public administration and its standard of performance; SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of the road safety situation; the international obligations of the Czech Republic, and the transport policy of the Czech Republic. The principal aim of the National Strategy for Road Safety is to reduce the number of road fatalities seen in 2002 by 50%. Critical factors influencing road safety in the Czech Republic are: the low awareness of the law among road users; the low level of enforcement of the law; the serious consequences of accidents caused by excessive speed; the serious consequences of accidents caused by failure to give right of way;the serious consequences of accidents occurring under the influence of alcohol;the low level of use of safety belts and other safety devices, and dangerous sections of road, particularly in built-up areas. For the covering abstract see ITRD E136183.
Samenvatting