Deploying Road Safety In Europe A New Approach for managing Road Safety

Transcription

1 ASECAP TOLL ROADS: A SAFE JOURNEY IN EUROPE Athens, 1 March 2011 Deploying Road Safety In Europe A New Approach for managing Road Safety By Dimitrios Tsamboulas Professor National Technical University of Athens

2 Road Safety in Europe Major societal issue. Affects all of the territory of the European Union. In 2009, more than 35,000 people died on the roads of the European Union ( i.e. the equivalent of a medium town). For every death on Europe's roads there are: estimated 4 permanently disabling injuries 10 serious injuries 40 minor injuries. Estimated economic cost to society : 130 Billion Euro a year. 2/22

3 Road Safety Action Programme Strong catalyst for EU and national efforts to improve road safety. Ambitious target set in 2001 to halve the number of fatalities by 2010 has not been completely met, but Significant progress has been made: number of fatalities expected to fall by more than 40% (compared to a 25% drop in the preceding decade). brought down the average level of road deaths per one million inhabitants from 113 in 2001 to 69 in 2009 for all current 27 Member States. 3/22

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5 Europeans call for more action! Survey, part of the Commission's ongoing campaign to halve the number of fatalities on Europe's roads. According to results published by EC in July 2010: 9 out of 10 Europeans (94%) considered driving under the influence of alcohol to be the most significant road safety problem. 8 out of 10 (78%) called speeding a major safety problem. 52% said Member States should focus on improving road infrastructure as a first or second priority 42% said the same for improving the enforcement of traffic laws 36% for dealing equally forcefully with resident and foreign traffic offenders. 5/22

6 Road Safety Programme The proposed policy orientations takes fully account of the results obtained during the 3rd road safety action programme European road safety policy orientations up to 2020 aims to provide a general governance framework and challenging objectives which should guide national or local strategies. Three following actions undertaken as a priority: establishment of a structured and coherent cooperation framework, which draws on best practices across the Member States, strategy for injuries and first aid to address the urgent and growing need to reduce the number of road injuries, improvement of the safety of vulnerable road users, in particular motorcyclists for whom accidents statistics are particularly worrying. 6/22

7 Seven Strategic Objectives 1. Improved Safety Measures for Vehicles 2. Building safer road infrastructure 3. Boost Smart Technology 4. Strengthening education and training for road users 5. Better enforcement 6. Establishing a Road Injuries Target 7. A new focus on Motorcyclists 7/22

8 1. Improved Safety Measures for Vehicles Mandatory electronic stability control Mandatory lane departure warning systems Mandatory automatic emergency braking systems Mandatory seat belt reminders Mandatory speed limiters for light commercial vehicles/vans For electric vehicles, technical standards for safety. Possibility of extending the implementation of advanced Driver Assistance Systems, such as anti- collision warnings by retrofitting them to commercial and or private vehicles Further technical actions for reducing injury risk for vulnerable groups such as pedestrians, cyclists e.g. Strengthen EU legislation on roadworthiness tests 8/22

9 2. Building safer road infrastructure European funds will only be granted to infrastructure compliant with road safety and tunnel safety Directives (already the case for TEN-T funding)* Examine extending the principles of existing EU legislation on infrastructure safety management to rural roads of Member States. requires that safety requirements be taken into account in the planning process, pre-design and design stage requires safety audits for infrastructure, identification of black spots and inspections. Extending these principles to rural roads could be done on the basis of exchange of best practice by Member States. Note: * with relevance to ASECAP members 9/22

10 3. Boost Smart Technology Propose new technical specifications, under the ITS Directive (Intelligent Transport Systems Directive) : data and information can be easily exchanged between vehicles and between vehicles and infrastructure*. Accelerate the deployment of e-call and examine its extension to motorcyclists, heavy duty trucks and buses. Note: * with relevance to ASECAP members 10/22

11 4. Strengthening education and training for road users Work with Member States to develop a common education and training road safety strategy*. Strengthening the quality of the licensing and training system, by widening the EU Driving Licence Directive, to establish: Minimum criteria for driving instructors Integration of accompanied driving/apprenticeship in the pre-licensing period Examining the possibility to introduce probation periods after the driving test Examine the possibility of introducing eco-driving into theoretical and practical tests for safer, clean driving. Note: * with relevance to ASECAP members 11/22

12 5. Better enforcement Measures to strengthen EU wide and national enforcement controls will include: Development by Member States of national implementation plans EU wide awareness campaigns* For drink driving, penalties should be accompanied by preventative measures (mandatory use of alco-locks for specific professional cases, such as school buses), or in the framework of rehabilitation programmes after drink driving offences. Prioritise the adoption of legally binding measures on the cross border exchange of information* in the field of road safety to allow for the identification and sanctioning of foreign offenders for seatbelts, speed, alcohol and traffic light offences. Note: * with relevance to ASECAP members 12/22

13 6. Establishing a Road Injuries Target Establishing common definitions of serious and minor injuries to define targets for establishing common EU wide injuries target to integrate into Road Safety Guidelines. Promote exchange of best practices between Member States on emergency service response to accidents* Establishing EU wide data collection and analysis on injuries*. Examine the added value of developing and installing event data recorders ( black boxes )*. Note: * with relevance to ASECAP members 13/22

14 7. A new focus on Motorcyclists Introduce functional vehicle safety measures mandatory fitting of Advanced Brake Systems Automatic Headlamp On and updated anti-tampering measures Develop technical standards on protective equipment, such as clothing. Study the feasibility of equipping motorcycles with an airbag and/or including the airbag in the protective clothing. Extend EU legislation on road worthiness testing/inspections to motorbikes and other powered two- wheelers (which does not exist at the moment). 14/22

15 Unreported Accidents In several EU countries, clinical hospital data and sometimes also outpatient data on traffic injuries are linked with the police reported accident data on a national or regional level. This causes the underreporting of registration of injury accidents by the police. 15/22

16 Recommendation for Correction Factors to Police reported Data 16/22

17 Road Safety Research Abundance of research undertaken internationally in road safety. Beneficial in: documenting the road accident problem providing means to develop and evaluate countermeasures. New technologies and methods must provide: Road Authorities with the capacity to regulate better Road Managers with the capacity to manage better European roads. What is missing?.a Practical Tool 17/22

18 The Matrix Tool New method, incorporating tools and technologies for: multi-functional smart and safe infrastructure monitoring. generating real-time data for road user support. enabling a high-quality process over the life span of the road without data loss and errors. A MATRIX of features for quality and serviceability of roads can be defined, aiming at amongst others: providing a long term vision for road infrastructure, in order to improve serviceability, safety and to reduce the impacts on the environment. 18/22

19 Matrix Outlook 19/22

20 Proposed New Concept: Safety Levels Introduce the concept of traffic safety levels in the new infrastructure or in the new configuration of the existing infrastructure. Safety Levels will be based on the same principle as the Level of Service introduced by the HCM. Safety levels will be assigned to road sections. 20/22

21 Other Recommendations Until recently, all actions targeted at road safety lied within the sole responsibility of the public sector. It is the time for road users to take certain actions on board! Concession arrangements complicate matters, related to the role and liability of the private operator. However, if a sound system for accident prevention, incidence detection and instantaneous mitigation measures is developed, insurance costs will reduce. It is proposed that private operators carry out feasibility studies for investments and operations measures towards safety, which will be less costly than insurance premiums. The proposed Matrix can constitute a valuable tool! 21/22

22 THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION! 22/22