PACTS COMMENTS ON EUROPEAN TRANSPORT SAFETY COUNCIL REPORT

The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) welcomed the publication today of the third PIN report by the European Transport Safety Council. The report can be accessed via the link below:

http://www.etsc.eu/PIN-publications.php

The report highlights progress towards the European Commission target of 27,000 road deaths by 2010. It outlines progress on a country by country basis as well as identifying those countries that have ben most successful in reducing deaths.

Commenting on the UK’s performance, Robert Gifford, Executive Director of PACTS, said “This report is a welcome contribution to our understanding of how the United Kingdom is performing on the European stage. It also reminds us that there is plenty to do if the British government really wants to achieve its aspiration to have the safest roads in the world.

“The Annexes at the end of the report show us how far we have still to travel. While we are third from top in terms of child deaths in the age range 0 to 14, we are at number 16 in the European League in our performance in cutting deaths since 2001. Since 2001, we have cut road deaths by 24%, outdone by France (48%), Spain (44%), and Germany (36%). In 2008, the UK was third in terms of road deaths per million population, suggesting that we have some way to go to get to number one.

“One area where we are clearly lagging is in the purchase of cars that are high scorers for performance in terms of occupant and pedestrian protection. In both these areas our vehicle fleet is at or below the European average. Here is one area where public authorities and employers could do more to demand higher standards for their vehicle fleet.

“The headline figures for road deaths in 2008 for Great Britain will be published on Thursday. We should look at these carefully to assess our performance against both our current target and our longer-term aspirations.”

ENDS

For further information, please contact Robert Gifford    020 7222 7732 (work)

NOTES TO EDITORS

The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) is a registered charity and associate Parliamentary group advising and informing MPs and Peers on road, rail and air safety issues. Its charitable objective is: To protect human life through the promotion of transport safety for the public benefit.
PACTS is also a founder member of the European Transport Safety Council (www.etsc.eu) that seeks to inform European policy makers on transport safety issues.