The year 2010 was supposed to be the time when European road fatalities were reduced by half compared to 2001. While that hope remains, it seems increasingly likely that the European Commission will fall short of its goal, according to the automotive market research ?rm iSuppli Corp.
Despite this, however, the actions outlined in the original European Commission commitment from 2003 have produced measurable, noteworthy and admirable results. In 2009, the last full year for which data is available, road fatalities in the EU-27 were reduced by 36 percent and are expected to decline by 40 percent by the end of 2010.
Such positive results have encouraged European leaders and the original ambitious goal recently has been renewed along with an updated Road Safety Programme for the coming decade.
Progress in Europe
Recently, the U.K. Department for Transport published its 2009 Road Casualties report. Fatalities and injuries were down across the board, reflecting trends observed in other Western nations, including the recently published findings from the United States.
In fact, the United Kingdom has the lowest roadway fatality rate among all EU-27 member states as of the EC’s 2009 publication, at 38 fatalities per 100 million inhabitants. This also places the country—with a 35 percent decrease from 2001—just below the EU average decline of 36 percent during the 2001 to 2009 period.
Unfortunately, not every European nation has experienced such a response to the actions initiated by the Road Safety Programme.
While the vast majority of nations recorded declines in fatalities during the decade, both Malta and Romania have seen increases of 31 and 14 percent, respectively. Romania, in particular, recorded 130 roadway deaths per 100 million inhabitants, more than three times the lowest rate in the EU-27.
If at First You Don’t Succeed ...
This summer, the European Commission adopted the updated program that again aims to cut road deaths in Europe by half through the 2011-2020 decade. Taking cues from the previous process, the Road Safety Programme 2011-2020 again sets out initiatives at the European and national level, focusing on improving vehicle safety, the safety of infrastructure and the behavior of motorists.
The first of seven strategic objectives is centered upon improving safety measures for vehicles. The current 2010 program focused on making vehicles safer through passive safety measures, including the fitting and compulsory wearing of seat belts, airbags, universal attachment systems for child restraints and improving vehicle design for increased structural integrity.
The next decade’s program, however, shifts focus, following the evolution within the driver assistance segment from passive to active safety. Between 2011 and 2020, a new range of active safety systems will be spotlighted, including electronic stability control, lane departure warning and autonomous emergency brake systems as well as technical standards for safety on electric vehicles.
While the technologies initially may be aimed at commercial vehicles and light trucks, the benefits can easily be applied to passenger vehicles as well. And once these systems are studied or installed in vehicles—commercial or passenger—the tangible benefits of such systems can be gathered and analyzed.
Armed with what the industry expects to be positive real-world data supporting these systems, there will be little to prevent the proliferation of these technologies on vehicles of all types. Such data will also figure heavily in the future of these technologies as governments around the world discuss future mandates.
A Difficult Task
Such drastic differences across nations make the EC’s task particularly difficult, and the gap becomes even more pronounced when one considers how different each nation is from the rest.
The traditional Western European nations generally have established transportation networks and maintenance programs, while the historically younger Eastern European nations don’t always have those luxuries or experience.
One could also surmise that Western European nations have more opportunity to take advantage of advanced driver assistance systems, such as German consumers opting for night vision on 40 percent of purchases when the option is available, according to night vision supplier Autoliv. One would not assume the same could be said of consumers in Romania or other Eastern European nations, however.
Yet for all the differences across member states, the European Commission has still reduced EU-27 roadway fatalities considerably. While the goal of reducing such fatalities by half doesn’t appear to be likely by the end of 2010, the effort must still be commended.
And based on such commendable efforts and the knowledge of the most advanced driver assistance systems coming down the pipeline, the European Commission’s 2020 goal just may be realized.
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