A3-0067/94

Resolution on an action programme on road safety

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the communication from the Commission for an action programme on road safety (COM(93)0246),

-having regard to the motions for resolutions by:

-Ms McIntosh on the safety performance of cars (B3-0937/93)

-Mrs Denys on road safety (B3-1676/93)

-Ms McIntosh on seat belts on coaches (B3-1799/93),

-having regard to the Council's conclusions of 29 and 30 November 1993 on road safety,

-having regard to:

-its resolution of 15 June 1987 on 1986 - Road Safety Year: progress and prospects

-its resolution of 12 October 1988 on the protection of pedestrians and the European charter of pedestrians' rights

-its opinion of 23 May 1989 on the proposal for a directive on the maximum permitted blood alcohol concentration for vehicle drivers

-its opinion of 14 September 1990 on the proposal for a directive on speed limits for certain categories of motor vehicles in the Community

-its resolution of 12 March 1993 on a Community programme for action on road safety

and the proposals contained therein,

-having regard to the report by the Group of High-Level Experts for a European road safety policy (Gerondeau report), of February 1991,

-having regard to the final report of the High-Level Group of Government Representatives: 'Priority fields for action and guidelines for a Community road safety programme', April 1992,

-having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Transport and Tourism and the opinions of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy and the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection (A3-0067/94),

A.whereas over 50 000 deaths and 1.5 million injuries occur annually on the roads of the EC, resulting in 0.5 million admissions to hospitals, of which 25% result in invalidity,

B.whereas road accidents are the main cause of death in young people between the ages of 5 and 34,

C.whereas pedestrians and cyclists are often at particular risk on the road because of their lack of protection,

D.whereas the cost of road accidents is approximately ECU 70 billion annually,

E.whereas road safety must be incorporated as a fully-fledged element of transport policy in overall policy on mobility,

F.whereas citizens of the EU increasingly use roads in Member States other than their own, with the result that road safety has assumed increasingly international dimensions,

G.whereas it is not only necessary to draw up new and supplementary regulations, but also essential to ensure compliance with existing legislation, such as that relating to the use of seat belts and regulations on driving and rest periods,

H.whereas road safety education designed to teach at an early age sensible behaviour on the roads is a very effective method of promoting road safety,

I.whereas safety requirements for vehicles and infrastructure should be in line with current thinking in this field,

1.Is very pleased that, with the ratification of the Treaty on European Union, road safety policy has become a fully-fledged element of EC transport policy;

2.Notes with appreciation the programme of action on road safety; nevertheless draws attention to a number of shortcomings in the programme;

3.Welcomes the Council's conclusions of 29 and 30 November 1993 on the action programme on road safety where, for the first time, it both adopted an integrated approach and identified priorities, and expects this shift in the Council's position to enable it to adopt the pending and future proposals on road safety;

4.Recognizes that the principle of subsidiarity applies in the field of road safety, but considers that the Community certainly has a role to play with regard to the harmonization of:

-the technical characteristics of cars (a task within the exclusive competence of the Community, via the internal market),

-safety aspects of vehicles and infrastructure, including the associated codes of conduct,

-traffic regulations and road signs;

5.Believes that the operational character of the action programme should be strengthened; believes therefore that deadlines should be set for all points in the action programme, as listed in Table II, so that all the proposals will be ready by the end of 1995; at the end of 1995, the Commission is to issue an evaluation report indicating the state of play with regard to the action programme;

6.Notes with concern that many valuable suggestions from previous reports by the European Parliament have not yet been implemented by the relevant bodies and once again draws attention to those reports;

7.Is able to approve the seven priority fields for action selected by the Commission, but considers the following points also to be of major significance;

OBJECTIVES

8.Notes with satisfaction that some Member States have quantified the road safety policy objectives with regard to numbers of deaths and injuries; urges the other Member States likewise to state the percentages by which they are aiming to reduce the numbers of deaths and injuries on the roads; believes that a 20% reduction in the number of deaths on the road by the year 2000 is the minimum objective;

9.Welcomes the Council decision of 30 November 1993 on the creation of a Community data base on road accidents and expects in the near future a further harmonization in the classification of accidents and severity of injury at Union level, based on Article 75 of the EC Treaty;

10.Takes the view that greater efforts to promote public transport and the shared use of vehicles could take many private vehicles off the roads, making a significant contribution to more effective road safety;

RESEARCH

11.Believes that greater attention should be focused on road safety in the EC's research programmes and that programmes which have been running for some time already, such as DRIVE and EURET, should be evaluated urgently in order to ascertain the added value which these programmes have for the promotion of road safety; account should also be taken of the results of research into road safety in the Member States and third countries; in addition, the research into road safety referred to in this report should receive greater attention in Annex III, Chapter 6 of the Fourth Framework Programme of Research (COM(93)0276);

VEHICLES AND INFRASTRUCTURE

12.Notes that existing legislation in the field of safety requirements for vehicles is often out of date and bears no relation to current expertise in the field of road safety; therefore urges the Commission to produce proposals in keeping with the timetable in Table II;

13.Calls on the Commission in so doing to give particular priority to proposals relating to head-on and lateral collisions and elements on the front of cars which pose a danger to pedestrians;

14.Given the increasingly international character of vehicle regulations, calls for EC quality requirements to be drawn up for bicycles and important bicycle accessories such as child seats;

15.Believes that, when trans-European road networks are constructed, a Community package of minimum safety requirements should be applied for example to types of road surface, number of lanes, types of junctions, traffic signals, lighting, anti-skid measures and fog alerts;

16.Considers that it is necessary for road safety to be treated as a separate factor when decisions are taken on major infrastructure projects; therefore calls for road safety impact reports to be made compulsory and calls on the Commission to issue a proposal to this effect in 1994;

17.Believes that conditions relating to minimum safety requirements and the requirement for the responsible authority to carry out a road safety impact report should be attached to the granting of EC aid for road construction;

BEHAVIOUR

18.Shares the Commission's view that road safety instruction constitutes an effective instrument for improving road safety, especially when given to young people; therefore believes that road safety should be a compulsory subject in primary schools; calls on the Commission to produce a proposal in this field by 1 July 1994;

19.Considers that some categories of users, such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, are particularly vulnerable and some groups are exposed to particularly high risks in road traffic, such as young children, teenagers and young drivers; these users and groups should constitute a priority for any Union and national action on road safety; welcomes in this regard the Council resolution of 16 December 1993 to make 1995 the Year of the Young Driver;

20.Points out, with the Commission, the universally acknowledged detrimental effect of high speeds on road safety; likewise points out the beneficial effect, in terms of numbers of road traffic accident victims, of speed limits as applied in the USA; recalls the views it made known earlier on harmonization of speed limits for the various categories of motor vehicles and urges that a decision be taken on this matter soon;

21.Calls on the Commission to make a social cost-benefit analysis of the effect of introducing speed limiting devices for all categories of motor vehicle;

22.Calls for experiments to be carried out in various Member States in 1994 on banning overtaking by lorries on four-lane motorways, to be followed up by an evaluation of these experiments and possible policy proposals, no later than in 1995;

23.Is shocked by the fact that in some Member States 40% of all deaths on the road are linked to the consumption of alcohol; recalls that, since 1989, there has been a proposal - which received a favourable opinion from Parliament (see abovementioned opinion of 23 May 1989) - for the introduction throughout the Community of a maximum permitted blood alcohol level of 0.5 mg/ml; urges the Council quickly to come to a decision on this issue; is of the opinion that countries which apply a legal limit lower than 0.5 mg/ml should be able to retain that lower limit;

24.Considers that it is becoming increasingly necessary to ensure that drivers are given precise information concerning the risks of taking certain medicines or drugs, the danger of which has become sufficiently clear;

25.Considers that partial responsibility should be imputed to insurance companies which provide cover in the areas of accident, life, sickness and invalidity insurance so that they contribute to better road safety by penalizing policy holders who are convicted of dangerous driving under the influence of alcohol;

26.Advocates a European approach to the penalty points driving licence and recommends the Commission to set up a working party soon to investigate the scope for a European approach and to issue a report by July 1994;

27.Believes that driving schools can make a greater contribution to road safety by providing high-quality training and therefore calls for a separate directive to be drawn up on the admission of driving schools to the market which places stringent quality requirements on driving schools and makes it compulsory for driving schools regularly to publish the examination results achieved by their pupils;

28.Recalls the ECMT resolution No. 56 of 22 November 1989 on advertising and road safety and urges that this resolution be implemented within the EC and therefore that covenants be drawn up with all the parties concerned stipulating that advertisements may no longer contain any statements liable to have a negative impact on road safety;

29.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments of the Member States.