RESOLUTION A3-0014/93

Resolution on a Community programme for action on road safety

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the motions for resolutions by:

(a)Mr da CUNHA OLIVEIRA, on the ecological disaster which has struck the Autonomous Region of Madeira (B3-0248/90),

(b)Mr FERRI, on harmonization of the Community provisions on road safety (B3-0840/90),

(c)Mr STEWART and Mr SMITH, on the tragedy of the Scandinavian Star

(B3-0893/90),

(d)Mr KOSTOPOULOS, on a Community directive to monitor compliance with safety requirements on board passenger vessels and the imposition on offenders of severe penalties, to the extent of banning them from Community transport operations (B3-1069/90),

(e)Mr STEWART and others, on the tragic coach crash at Joigny, near Paris, France (B3-1300/90),

(f)Mr McMILLAN-SCOTT and Miss McINTOSH, on behalf of the European Democratic Group, on coach accidents on French motorways

(B3-1665/90),

(g)Mrs BRAUN-MOSER, on reducing the number of road accidents occurring at night by making it compulsory for lorries to be equipped with horizontal strip reflectors at the sides and rear (B3-1714/90),

(h)Mrs MUSCARDINI and others, on second drivers for touring coaches and long-distance bus services (B3-1867/90),

(i)Mr KOSTOPOULOS, on the need to fit all categories of motor vehicle with passenger protection systems (B3-1975/90),

(j)Mr STAES, on motor rallies held on public roads (B3-1985/90),

(k)Mrs BRAUN-MOSER and Mr KLEPSCH, on behalf of the European People's Party, on the creation of a European Road Safety Council

(B3-0210/91),

(l)Mr KOSTOPOULOS, on road safety of the national highways in Greece (B3-0672/91),

(m)Mr MORETTI, on the type of material to be used for road surfaces

(B3-0676/91),

(n)Mr KOSTOPOULOS, on measures to make navigation safer and protect the Mediterranean (B3-0710/91),

(o)Mrs MUSCARDINI, on the 'Haven' tanker disaster (B3-0875/91),

(p)Mrs MUSCARDINI and others, on motorway road-works (B3-1069/91),

(q)Mr STEWART, on the 'Euros' shipping register (B3-1095/91),

(r)Mr SMITH and others, on passenger safety in vehicles other than cars (B3-1256/91),

(s)Mr VALVERDE LOPEZ, on a coordinated system of emergency helicopter services on the roads of the European Community (B3-1297/91),

(t)Mrs MUSCARDINI, on traffic hold-ups (B3-1467/91),

(u)Mrs MUSCARDINI, on measures to assist the disabled in air transport (B3-1746/91),

(v)Mr FERNANDEZ-ALBOR, on the creation of an integral maritime safety plan (B3-1947/91),

-having regard to its resolutions of 13 March 1984, 18 February 1986 and 15 June 1987 on road safety,

-having regard to the European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) (1959),

-having regard to the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic and Road Signs (1968) and the Geneva European Agreement (1971),

-having regard to the Commission communication of 9 January 1989 entitled 'Road safety: a priority for the Community' (COM(88)0704),

-having regard to the report of the Group of High-Level Experts for a European Road Safety Policy,

-having regard to several studies made on the impact of a well-organized winter service on road safety,

-having regard to the public hearing held by the Committee on Transport and Tourism on 28 May 1991 on road safety (PE 151.106) and the wealth of written information forwarded to it by the organizations concerned,

-having regard to the Council resolution of 21 June 1991 on a Community programme of action on road safety,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (A3-0014/93),

A.having regard to the carnage caused by road accidents, which result in more than 50 000 dead and 1 700 000 injured (including 150 000 permanently disabled) in the Community every year,

B.whereas this situation and the resultant human suffering are unacceptable not only in social and moral terms but also in economic terms, as the cost to society is more than 2% of the gross national product of the Member States, and whereas safety considerations must therefore be made a priority,

C.whereas a fresh effort is needed to improve road safety policies in the various Member States and whereas the Community must play a key role if progress is to be made in this field, as joint action is more effective than measures taken on an individual, uncoordinated basis by the Member States,

D.whereas more and more EC citizens also use the roads in other Member States, which increases the necessity of a European approach to road safety,

E.whereas road accident statistics reveal major disparities among Member States as regards road safety and the effects thereof on different categories of user and whereas a coordinated Community plan to approximate safety levels would therefore lead to much faster progress than at present towards combating this problem,

F.whereas methods of collecting statistics on fatal road accidents require realistic adjustment or approximation in view of medical progress and the differing statistical criteria as regards the time which elapses between the accident and death,

G.having regard to the decision taken at Maastricht to amend Article 75(1) of the Treaty on European Union and provide for the adoption, under subparagraph (c), of measures to improve transport safety, while nevertheless respecting, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, the freedom of decision of the competent authorities,

H.whereas human factors are responsible for the overwhelming majority of road accidents and priority should therefore be given to dealing with the human causes of such accidents,

I.whereas increasingly fierce competition in road haulage has often resulted in failure by drivers to observe speed limits and rest periods and in overloading of vehicles, and this is a significant factor in many serious accidents,

J.whereas most accidents occur in big cities and many victims are pedestrians, who, together with cyclists and motor-cyclists, are the most vulnerable categories,

K.whereas a new, improved campaign of assistance is needed for young inexperienced drivers,

L.whereas a Community road safety plan can only have significant, lasting effects if it is part of an overall prevention strategy based on improving:

(a)the behaviour of road users,

(b)the design, construction, equipment and maintenance of vehicles,

(c)the standard of the road network and road signs and markings,

(d)aid and assistance to the injured,

M.deploring the fact that, despite its previous resolutions of 13 March 1984 and 18 February 1986, in which it clearly called for a programme of Community legislative measures on road safety, the Commission has still not submitted a programme on this subject,

N.whereas statistical, technical, scientific and economic data must be collected, processed and analyzed in order to provide the Community and the Member States with information which will enable them to take the necessary safety measures for all modes of transport and whereas an advisory body on this subject should therefore be set up at Community level with responsibility, inter alia, for establishing, by means of the records kept of such offenders, reliable details of the previous history of anyone who causes an accident involving physical injury, in order to improve preventive measures,

O.whereas road safety measures should not lead to any restrictions on freedom unless they can be shown to have clear, significant effects; whereas, furthermore, restrictive road safety measures which have had no tangible effect should be abolished,

1.Affirms as a political goal its wish to give priority to safety policy for all modes of transport and above all to measures to bring about a significant, lasting reduction in the number of road accident victims, while, however, strictly applying the subsidiarity principle;

2.Remains firmly convinced that the Community should take every possible measure to improve safety on all modes of transport and that priority should be given to such measures as well as to providing the necessary financial resources; in accordance with the subsidiarity principle, it should be ascertained what measures need to be taken at what level; in doing so, the wider European dimension should be taken into account, and particularly the agreements concluded through the UN Economic Commission for Europe;

3.Believes that all Community and national transport legislation and any public or private transport projects which affect safety should be systematically assessed as regards safety;

4.Calls, therefore, on the Commission to submit a framework directive laying down general principles for assessing the impact on safety of Community and national legislation and public or private projects in the field of transport which might affect safety;

5.Calls on the Commission to set up, in its Directorate-General for Transport, a task-force on road safety which would draw up a Community action programme on this subject in cooperation with the research establishments in the Member States and lay down an overall approach to safety in road transport policy, with priority being assigned to measures which have been shown to increase road safety perceptibly;

6.Calls on the Commission to devote special attention in its action programme to certain target groups who are exposed to particularly high risks in road traffic, such as children, the elderly and young inexperienced drivers;

7.Calls for harmonization of traffic regulations and road signs which are of relevance to road safety;

8.Takes the view that Member States may apply stricter road safety standards than required by EEC legislation;

9.Calls on the Commission to draw up directives covering the mandatory installation of seat-belts on all seats in long-distance coaches and of roll-bars on the same;

10.Calls on the Commission to submit proposals as soon as possible to improve legislation, inter alia in the following fields:

(a)directives defining standards and methods for periodic roadworthiness tests for all categories of vehicle, including trailers and caravans;

(b)a directive extending roadworthiness tests, in particular brake tests, to two- or three-wheeled motorized vehicles;

(c)directives on the technical harmonization of construction features of motor vehicles and the technical aspects of vehicles on the road, to encourage more careful driving and improve the active and passive safety of vehicles. To this end, the following measures should be implemented:

-laminated glass windscreens, head-rests, fog-lamps, fire-proof fuel tanks and warning systems to be made standard equipment on all private cars;

-compulsory fitting of two wing-mirrors and optimum lighting and visibility on all vehicles;

-a compulsory requirement to have a fire-extinguisher and a glass-breaking tool on board;

-the front of cars to be made less dangerous to pedestrians;

-better protection against front and side collisions for car occupants;

-safer steering wheels and installation of airbags;

-authorization of a third, high-level brake light;

-stronger drivers' cabs, lateral protection, rubber-edged bumpers, front and rear protection and spray-suppression devices for lorries;

-compulsory standard reflectors on bicycles;

11.Calls on the Commission and Council to adopt as quickly as possible the following legislative measures on the behaviour of road users:

(a)speed limits applicable to all categories of vehicle;

(b)a directive on maximum alcohol levels for drivers;

(c)a directive banning driving under the influence of drugs and severer penalties for offenders;

(d)a directive making it compulsory for drivers of motorized two-wheel vehicles to wear crash helmets;

(e)a ban on the use, by drivers, of headphones linked to radios and cassette recorders;

(f)labelling of medicines which may affect driving ability and a ban on taking such medicines;

(g)introduction of social legislation in the sphere of road transport on driving periods and rest periods for drivers of goods vehicles and buses similar to the social legislation applicable to other employees, better inspection of the monitoring devices used for this (tachographs), action specifically designed to enforce maximum laden weights, which absolutely must put an end to this illegality and must place the emphasis on road safety;

12.Calls on the Commission and Council to adopt recommendations and, where in accordance with the subsidiarity principle, regulations or directives on road signs and markings and equipment covering, inter alia, the following:

(a)standardization of fixed equipment (including upright signs and road markings) and movable equipment (to guide drivers and aid traffic);

(b)technical specifications of road signs;

(c)improvement of the safety of pedestrians crossing roads:

-at junctions controlled by signals, by means of conflict-free traffic signal phasing (simultaneous green lights for pedestrians crossing in all directions and separate signal phasing for vehicles turning corners), as authorization for pedestrians to cross and simultaneous authorization for motor vehicles to turn a corner are fundamentally incompatible;

-at junctions not controlled by signals and on stretches between junctions by means of signals and construction measures;

(d)basic features of permanent road equipment (crash barriers and fences, shock absorbers, etc.);

(e)systematic monitoring of the safety level of the road network;

(f)a road classification system;

(g)adoption of a single sign system for indicating motorways (green or blue);

12.Welcomes the recent Commission initiatives aimed at setting up a Community action programme on trans-European networks and the incorporation of a new Title XII in the Treaty on European Union concerning trans-European networks, and considers it essential to make an accurate assessment of the impact on safety of the proposed trans-European infrastructures;

13.Notes with serious concern the deterioration in road safety in Central and Eastern European countries and calls on the Commission to ascertain how the EC and organizations in the Member States could help these countries to improve road safety, by transfer of know-how or in other ways;

14.Calls on the Commission to submit without delay proposals on aid and assistance to accident victims, in particular a coordinated Community system of emergency helicopter services on the roads and rules on cross-border cooperation in this sphere;

15.Calls on the Commission to propose setting up a European Transport Safety Council to provide the Community, Member States and interested circles with all the scientific, technical and economic data of value in the field of safety for all modes of transport;

16.Proposes that the European Transport Safety Council should, inter alia:

(a)provide the Commission with the scientific and technical support needed to formulate and assess initiatives in this area;

(b)set up, in conjunction with the Member States, a system for gathering and processing data on accidents which will enable statistics to be harmonized at Community level and a Community data base to be set up on accidents on the roads, people who cause accidents and their previous history and monitoring of drivers' behaviour, as well as accidents in other modes of transport;

(c)alter and approximate the criteria for recording deaths caused by road accidents in EC statistics so as to ensure that everyone who dies as the result of a road accident is included;

(d)encourage the exchange of information and distribute such information to all interested parties as well as cooperating with existing institutes or bodies in the Member States and third countries;

(e)coordinate at Community level, in conjunction with public and private bodies or institutes which are competent in this field, training programmes to take place in schools and workplaces and public awareness campaigns on the subject of road safety;

(f)encourage cooperation on transport safety monitoring measures and conduct inquiries into the causes of serious transport accidents;

(g)cooperate with Community research programmes in order to define objectives and exploit the results in the field of transport safety;

(h)examine and draw attention to the safety shortcomings of transport infrastructures in their present condition;

17.Stresses the need for a coherent, overall Community research programme in the field of transport safety and welcomes the research projects related to road safety conducted by the Community as part of the DRIVE, COST and EURET programmes; calls on the Commission to draw up a stage-by-stage timetable for the coordinated implementation of the results of these research projects and to submit them for a decision to be taken;

18.Believes that the Community and the Member States must take measures to encourage advertising which is favourable to road safety and calls for the introduction of a Community prize to reward the car advertisement which shows most concern for road safety;

19.Stresses the importance of campaigns to raise public awareness and inform users of the main risks and causes of road accidents and advocates wide distribution of all information on road safety; believes, therefore, that preventive measures by any public or private bodies or institutes competent in this field should be encouraged, including a well-organized winter service;

20.Stresses the positive role which non-governmental organizations in the Member States can play with regard to road safety; acknowledges that these organizations often lack funding and takes the view that they deserve Community support, for example if they are prepared to coordinate activities and organization at EC level;

21.Calls on the Community and the Member States to encourage measures at regional or local level to improve road safety;

22.Calls for companies in the field of non-life insurance, life assurance, health insurance and disability insurance to help improve road safety, as for example they do in the USA and Australia:

23.Calls on the Member States to maintain a sufficient level of road checks to enforce traffic regulations and emphasizes the need to provide the monitoring services with automatic equipment to register any breaches, in particular of speed limits and rules on driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs;

24.Calls on the Member States to ensure that any penalties are imposed as swiftly as possible and that flexible administrative and judicial procedures are drawn up to deal with lesser offences which have caused no damage; stresses, as regards the worst offences, the importance of deterrent penalties such as the suspension of driving licences; wishes to see greater cooperation between the administrative and judicial authorities of the various Member States, so that a person who has committed an offence in a Member State other than the state in which he is resident can actually be punished; moreover, penalties such as on-the-spot fines could be imposed on offenders from outside the Community;

25.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, Commission and the Member States.