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EU: enforcement an important road safety instrument

Annually 40,000 people are killed and 1.5 million are injured in road crashes in the present member countries of the European Union. After May 2004, when the EU has grown to 25 countries, a considerable increase in the number of casualties is to be expected, especially in the 10 new member states. The EU aims to have halved the number of fatalities by 2010.

 

This ambitious target needs to be achieved with limited resources and with immediate effect. Various studies that were carried out in EU projects and by the ETSC have shown that there are three important causes of death and severe injury in the EU: speeding, alcohol use, and driving without a seatbelt. Reducing these offences will result in a reduction of the number of fatalities by 25%.

Although the EU has not been able to reach an agreement about the same laws for all member states, all countries have laws regarding limits and rules for speed limits, alcohol use, and seatbelt use. Comparisons of the effects of such laws in various countries have shown that just having a law leads to a reduction of the number of casualties, but that law in combination with enforcement has much better results. This is why the EU countries have decided to strongly intensify the surveillance of traffic offences.

 

ESCAPE

Enforcement was the main subject in the EU project ESCAPE, Enhanced Safety from Appropriate Police Enforcement, in which SWOV participated. Several aspects of police surveillance were studied. The differences in legal regulations and procedures in the different countries were examined. So was the way in which the police is organized, together with the extent and nature of surveillance and enforcement. The best practices were also described, as well as the future developments. In spite of the large differences in the precise approach within the EU countries, practically every country has a procedure to punish offences in a relatively simple manner. There are also similarities in the way the procedure takes place. The fine is an important means, but in addition, special 'extras' are applied. These include revoking the driving license, mandatory following of a course, fulfilling 'community services', etc. Recently, on December 2nd 2003, ESCAPE has been officially been concluded with a symposium.

The purpose of this symposium was, in the first place, to involve practical experts in an intensive discussion of the results. In addition, it was intended to make an inventory of how the knowledge from this project had already contributed to developments at the national and EU levels. All EU member states were represented.

 

Results

It appears that enforcement works, that the number of offences diminishes, and with it the number of road casualties. The French example that was presented at the conference illustrates this. President Chirac has made increasing road safety in France a spearhead of his policy. To achieve this, the surveillance has been intensified, among other things, and a French equivalent of the Dutch Administrative Enforcement of Traffic Offences Act (known in Holland as the "Mulder Law") has been introduced. This law puts collecting the fines outside criminal law and treats it the same as collecting taxes. Figure 1 clearly shows the enormous reduction in the number of road deaths.

 

EU recommendations

At the EU level, ESCAPE has influenced the recommendations for effective police surveillance that the European Commission formulated on October 21st 2003 in the 'Commission recommendation on enforcement in the field of road safety'. The EU has considered the following ESCAPE conclusions of importance:

 

 

A study of the relation between surveillance costs and the expected effectiveness on accidents shows a very positive cost-benefit ratio. The best practice methods of surveillance studied have a ratio of 5 to 1 for speeding, 3-8 to 1 for alcohol, and 10-13 to 1 for seatbelt use.

 

Partly based on the cost-benefit analysis and the studies within the ESCAPE project, the European Commission concluded, among other things, that enforcement is an important and effective method to prevent road crashes, road deaths, and injured. The EU is of the opinion that speeding, alcohol use, and seatbelt use must be controlled consistently. The Commission also recommends that enforcement must be combined with campaigns in order to have an optimal effect. The European Commission hopes to achieve a reduction in the number of road deaths and injured by allowing the various member states to set up their own plans. These plans should contain the recommended measures for enforcement and campaigns to combat the most important causes of traffic death. The enforcement plans must be regularly evaluated for their effectiveness and, if necessary, be adjusted.

 

The Netherlands

What do the results of ESCAPE and the recommendations of the European Commission mean for the Netherlands? In this country, the surveillance of a large number of offences has recently been greatly intensified. Among these are alcohol use, speeding, and seatbelt use. For all these, the intensified surveillance is based on plans, and the result is also measured in terms of behaviour changes. The settlement has been simplified by the "Mulder Law", thus greatly reducing the pressure on the courts. Automated surveillance has increased greatly and, as a result of this, the subjective chance of being caught has also increased greatly (see also the SARTRE 3 study). If we compare this with the recommendations of the EU, we can conclude that police surveillance in the Netherlands is on the right road.

 

The final report and the various sub reports of the ESCAPE project are on the ESCAPE website. The final report is Deliverable 10.

 

Figure 1. Reduction of fatalities after policy change in France

SWOV Research Activities 24 - December 2003

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