EC Proposes Directives to Increase Road Safety in EU

In its efforts to halve the number of road fatalities by 2010, the European Commission has adopted two proposals for directives today, including the directive which provides for existing heavy vehicles to be equipped with "blind spot mirrors", explained a statement from Brussels.

According to the proposal new heavy duty vehicles of more than 3.5 tons will already have to be equipped with blind spot mirrors as of next year under an EU Directive of 2003. This will, however, not reduce the risks stemming from the existing fleet of heavy goods vehicles, which in the EU stands at around 5 million today.
The Commission estimates that every year approximately 400 people lose their lives in accidents, because lorry drivers fail to notice them when taking a right turn.
 The new directive includes a gradual implementation of such mirrors on all such existing vehicles.

The other directive aims at improving safety on the major roads, i.e. the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) through infrastructure measures and better engineering.

The directive does not impose technical standards or procedures but invites Member States to make better use of existing procedures and practices.
The Commission estimates that the proposed measures, if applied to the major roads, i.e. the Trans-European road network, could reduce the number of accidents with injuries by 7000 and avoid the loss of 600 lives every year.

 

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