The Commission adopted on July 20 on an ambitious road safety aims to halve road deaths in Europe over the next ten years. The program defines a series of initiatives at European and national level, aimed primarily at improving vehicle safety, security infrastructure and the behavior of road users.

Key figures:
Road safety is a big social problem. In 2009, more than 35 000 people were killed on EU roads, that is the equivalent of a medium-sized cities. It is estimated that for every death on the roads of Europe, there are 4 permanent invalids, with damage to the brain or spinal cord, 10 serious injuries and 40 minor injuries. The economic costs to society are estimated at 130 billion euros a year.

The Road Safety Programme (2011-2020) in detail
There are seven strategic objectives set
1. Measures to improve vehicle safety
In the period 2001-2010 has worked hard on a safety device "passive" for vehicles, such as seatbelts and airbags. Between 2011 and 2020 will come into force a series of new measures of "active safety" for the safety devices which will include:
Electronic stability control mandatory (for cars, buses and trucks) to reduce the risk of loss of stability or rollover.
Systems required lane departure warning (for trucks and buses).
Automatic emergency braking required (for trucks and buses).
Mandatory seat belt reminders of safety (for cars and trucks).
Mandatory speed limiters for commercial vehicles / light vans (already required for trucks).
For electric vehicles, the Commission will propose a package of practical measures which will set technical standards for safety.
The Commission will examine the possibility of extending the application of advanced driver assistance systems such as collision warning systems, adapting them to commercial vehicles and / or private
Since 2003 EU legislation has been strengthened in order to reduce the risk of injury to vulnerable groups such as pedestrians and cyclists, for example by mandating front of vehicles that absorb impact energy and anti-blind spot mirrors. Technological interventions need to be examined further in the field.
Safety of road vehicles - roadworthiness
The Commission will strengthen the EU legislation on roadworthiness tests in order to establish a mutual recognition of such controls, so that those made in one Member State to be recognized in another Member State.

2. Making roads safer
Will benefit from European funds only the infrastructure, in accordance with directives on road safety and the safety in tunnels. This is already the case for the financing of TEN-T, the Commission wants to extend this practice as a general principle to be observed for any EU funding, for example under the Cohesion Fund.
We will examine the principles of the existing EU legislation on the safety management of infrastructure, rural roads extending to the Member States. Under this legislation when making infrastructure in the process of planning which is preprogettuale and design should take into consideration the requirements for safety. This will also include safety audits for infrastructure, identification of black spots and controls. The extension of these principles to rural roads could be based on an exchange of best practices by Member States.

3. Increasing smart technologies
The Commission will propose new specifications, as part of the ITS Directive (Directive on Intelligent Transport Systems) in order to facilitate the exchange of data and information between vehicles and between vehicles and infrastructure (for example, to allow real-time transmission information on speed limits, traffic flow, congestion, pedestrian recognition).
The Commission will accelerate the introduction of electronic emergency call (e-Call) and will study the extension to motorcyclists, heavy commercial vehicles and buses.

4. Strengthening education and training for road users
The road user is the first link in the chain of security and the weaker one, as more prone to error. Whatever the technical measures, the effectiveness of road safety policy depends ultimately on the behavior of users. Education, training and monitoring are essential.
The Commission will work with Member States to develop a common strategy for education and training in road safety. At EU level this will mean first of all improve the system of training and driver licensing, in particular expanding the EU Directive on driving licenses, so as to:
Define minimum standards for driving instructors.
Enter, in the previous step to issue a license, a period of internship / accompanied driving (to agree with those countries that have chosen to use this system, minimum age, experience and conditions).
Examine the possibility of introducing trial periods after the driving test (during which new drivers are subject to stricter controls).
Examine the possibility of introducing eco-driving between the theory and practical tests for safer driving and less polluting.

5. Improve controls
The effectiveness of road safety policies largely depends on the intensity of controls and compliance with safety requirements. The application of standards is crucial because they set the stage for a sharp reduction in the number of deaths and injuries. Speed, alcohol and non-use of seat belts continue to be considered the three leading causes of death on the road. The measures to strengthen controls at the national level and across the EU include:
The development by Member States' national implementation plans (eg targets with regard to the priority issues and the intensity of controls at national level).
Awareness campaigns throughout the EU
For driving while intoxicated fines should be accompanied by preventive measures. For example, the Commission will consider legislative measures to impose the mandatory use of alcohol interlocks systems for specific cases, such as school buses, or as part of rehabilitation programs (for non-professional and professional drivers) after the challenge of offenses for driving under the influence of alcohol.
The most common cross-border infringement continues to be speeding. The Commission will give priority to the adoption of legally binding measures on cross-border exchange of information in the field of road safety (proposal for a Directive of 2008) to allow the identification of foreign offenders and the imposition of sanctions for the same offenses relating to the Failure to use seat belts, speeding, driving while intoxicated and passing a red traffic light.

6. Set a target for the wounded of the road
The reduction in the number of casualties will be a priority action of key importance for Europe in the next ten years. The Commission will define the elements of a strategy for global action on the wounded of the road and first aid, which will include:
The adoption of common definitions of serious injuries and less serious than those to identify the objectives to establish a common goal, then at the EU level to be included in the Guidelines on Road Safety 2010-2020.
Promote the exchange of good practices between Member States on emergency service response to incidents, providing also throughout the EU to organize the collection and analysis of data on injuries.
Examine the added value that would result in the construction and installation, in particular on professional vehicles, to recording of data on accidental events (the so-called "black boxes") in order to improve the technical investigation and accident analysis.

7. Increased attention to motorcyclists
The Commission will in particular focus its attention on motorcycles and other "two-wheeled motor vehicles" (PTW). As for other types of transport vehicles in the course of time there was a significant reduction of the dead and wounded, for PTW users, the reduction was much less or even not at all been there.
Measures will be proposed at European level for two-wheeled motor vehicles in order to:
introduce a series of functional measures for the safety of the vehicle, such as the obligation to install advanced braking systems, security systems, Automatic Headlamp On and updated anti-tampering measures for certain categories of PTW (so it can not be removed speed limits);
develop technical standards on personal protective equipment such as clothes and study the feasibility of installing airbags on motorcycles and / or integrate into clothing protective airbags,
EU legislation to extend the inspection / engineering controls to motorcycles and other two-wheeled motor vehicles (currently absent)

Considerations on the previous 2001-2010 Programme of Action on road safety
Even if you have not achieved the ambitious target set in 2001, namely to halve by 2010 the number of fatal accidents, were nevertheless made considerable progress. For example, the number of fatalities should be reduced by more than 40% (compared with a fall of 25% over the previous decade). It also decreased the average level of road deaths per million inhabitants, which rose from 113 in 2001 to 69 in 2009 for all current 27 Member States. It is a level close to that achieved in 2001 by the Member States with the best performance (United Kingdom, Sweden and the Netherlands, respectively 61, 62 and 66 victims per million inhabitants). The Road Safety Action Plan (2001-2010) was a strong catalyst for the EU and individual Member States and has served to stimulate efforts to improve road safety.

For more information visit the website of the European Commission