News from the European Road Safety Charter

Editorial Road safety stakeholders from around Europe gathered on May 20th at the handsome Bibliothèque Solvay in Brussels to honour the winners of the 2016 Excellence in Road Safety Awards. Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc, gave an impassioned opening speech where she acknowledged the "great progress" achieved in road safety throughout Europe in the past decade and a half but also emphasised the need to re-evaluate and refocus efforts in order to move forward. She pointed out the important role national and local actors play in the shared effort to reach the goal of reducing road fatalities, insuring that all road users are safe. This year's Charter winners were given an opportunity to familiarise all those in attendance with their success story through individual interviews with Pierre-Antoine Ullmo (P.A.U. Education), who moderated the event. These were followed by roundtable discussions where audience members could reflect on and share best practices. Prior to the award presentation, Commissioner Bulc and special guests took part in a panel discussion to explore ways to make road safety an integral part of civil society, from policy initiatives at the highest levels of government to actions and educational initiatives that make each individual road user an active participant in road safety. Now in its twelfth year, the European Road Safety Charter has more than 3,000 members representing many sectors of society, including business and industry, associations, public and private entities, schools and research institutions to create and communicate best practices for road safety. This year's awards were given to five such actions with a special focus placed on youth, innovation and vulnerable road users. Two more outstanding features of this year's ceremony were the introduction of the School Challenge category for the best educational initiative, and the Jacques Barrot Award, a special distinction presented to one of the five Charter Award winners and selected by audience members.

Highlighted news This year's winners Meet this year's School Challenge winners:   CP Miguel de Cervantes from Spain for its comprehensive bicycle safety programme for young children, protecting vulnerable road users while promoting sustainable mobility.   Lockerbie Academy from Scotland for its hands-on educational programme, using physics in the classroom to better understand the results of collisions. And this year's Best Practice winners:   Børneulykkesfonden and Codan Forsikring, the Danish Children Accident Prevention Foundation and the Codan Insurance Company, for their successful initiative, 'National Reflector Day' which protects vulnerable road users through a country-wide programme to promote the use of reflectors and reflective wear.   Centrum Bezpieczeństwa Ruchu Drogowego from Poland for its comprehensive and innovative solutions, integrating education, training, first aid and new technologies to save lives on the road.   ACA Automobil Club from Albania for meeting the challenge of introducing road safe habits and attitudes to the society, through an entertaining and extensive child-focused approach