The Excellence in Road Safety Awards

Editorial The Excellence in Road Safety Awards recognize the most innovative road safety practices carried out within the framework of the European Road Safety Charter. This year, the award ceremony was held in Bucharest, Romania on 26 June. Winners were selected from five countries – Greece, France, Portugal, Romania and Sweden – for their commitment to saving lives on European roads. Their practices covered diverse areas of focus: training for professional drivers, raising awareness of safety hazards, developing strategies for law enforcement, educating the very young to be guardians of the road, and raising awareness among the elderly, who are vulnerable to road accidents. Matthew Baldwin, Deputy Director-General for Mobility and Transport presented the awards. In his opening speech, he voiced the importance of national and local actors in achieving the common goal of creating safer roads through local change. Journalist Dan Carbunaru interviewed the winning participants. Afterwards, a panel discussion was held, featuring Matthew Baldwin and Pierre Vela from the Malta Road Safety Council, Florentin Bracea from the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police Road Directorate, and Constantin (Titi) Aur, popular Romanian rally driver and ERSCharter member. This is the second year that one of the five winners was chosen by the audience to receive special distinction. The prize, dedicated to Jacques Barrot, former Transport Commissioner and ardent supporter of road safety, went to the Romanian Automobile Club for their innovative children’s education project.