MEPs alerted to car manufacturer attempts to weaken new vehicle safety standards - Safety Monitor 112 - October 2018

Safety Monitor Transport safety news from ETSC

MEPs alerted to car manufacturer attempts to weaken new vehicle safety standards A group of safety experts, consumer groups, transport police, environmental campaigners, city authorities, cyclists and road collision victims have written to members of the European Parliament’s Committees on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) and Transport (TRAN) to raise concerns over the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA)’s attempts to weaken the European Commission’s proposals on new vehicle safety measures and to ask MEPs to pass the legislation as soon as possible. Read more... ETSC marks 25 years of work towards a safer transport system in Europe Since 1993, when ETSC was founded, road deaths have almost halved. That is a massive achievement and reflects the hard work of a huge range of individuals, organisations, companies, governments and the European Union. What was ETSC’s contribution? It’s impossible to say. But looking back over the achievements we have highlighted in a special report published this month, there are a number of critical moments when ETSC was a key player in shaping and driving forward the debate and pushing for meaningful policies that, without question, have saved lives. Read more...   Hype around automated cars is dangerously confusing drivers says Euro NCAP One in 10 drivers would be tempted to have a nap while using a so-called ‘Highway Assist’ system, such as Adaptive Cruise Control, according to new research published this month alongside new Euro NCAP tests of cars featuring advanced driver assistance systems. In a separate briefing, also published this month, ETSC has called on the European Commission to set out plans for addressing the risks of driver over-reliance on automated systems and reiterated that there needs to be much more transparency around the approval process for new features such as lane change assistance. Read more...   ETSC announces 2018 fleet safety award winners ETSC has announced the 2018 winners of the PRAISE awards, in recognition of outstanding efforts taken by companies to improve road safety at work. The large company award goes to CTT, the Portuguese postal services company. In the same category, FM Conway, the UK-based infrastructure services company was highly commended. The award for a public authority was awarded to STIB-MIVB, the Brussels public transport company. Read more...   Gig economy workers face “perfect storm” of risk factors A study of safety issues and worker rights in the so-called gig economy has warned that workers paid per delivery are being incentivised to drive in adverse weather conditions and late at night while being penalised when packages are late or cannot be delivered due to sickness. Read more...   Call for EU infrastructure safety rules to be extended beyond main motorways A coalition of safety groups, traffic police, cyclists, transport workers and the road sector are calling on the European Parliament to back a proposal to extend the scope of EU road infrastructure safety rules to cover all primary roads in Europe, and to incorporate the needs of cyclists, pedestrians and motorcyclists in the implementation of the rules. Read more...   London introduces bus safety standard, including Intelligent Speed Assistance on all new vehicles The London transport authority TfL has published a new Bus Safety Standard, part of a strategy to reach a target of no-one being killed on or by a London bus by 2030. Read more...   Seatbelt reminders on every new car seat from 2019 The EU is set to adopt updated UNECE regulations on seatbelts that will require seatbelt reminder systems in all front and rear seats on new cars from September 2019. Read more...   Germany launches interactive map of road collisions Germany’s Federal Statistical Office has launched an interactive map of traffic collisions. The website enables citizens and researchers to see road sections and sites where most collisions occurred on roads across Germany. Read more...   New ETSC report gives an overview of post-collision response A new paper from ETSC, published as part of its REVIVE project, outlines the actions that are undertaken every time a road collision occurs. It describes the role of emergency/rescue services from the moment a call is taken to handover to hospital, and identifies areas where application of best practice is particularly important. Read more...   ETSC welcomes the appointment of first European coordinator for road safety ETSC has warmly welcomed the appointment of Matthew Baldwin as the first European coordinator for road safety. Read more...   31 countries took part in this year’s European Day Without A Road Death This year’s Project EDWARD (the European Day Without A Road Death) took place across Europe on Wednesday 19 September. Devised in 2016 by the European Traffic Police Network (TISPOL), the initiative once again aimed to raise awareness of road safety and reduce the number of people killed on European roads. Read more...