On 17 May the European Commission has set a new target for road deaths and serious road injuries to be cut in half by 2030. In order to achieve this target, a package of road safety measures will be issued for vehicle safety standards, infrastructure safety management and a strategy for automated driving. Each year, around 25,000 people lose their lives on EU roads.
Vehicle requirements
The requirements for new vehicles announced by the European Commission were last updated in 2009. They focus on mandatory equipping new cars with driving task support and live-saving technologies like de ISA (Intelligent Speed Assistance) and Automated Emergency Braking (AEB), but also tightened crashworthiness demand for new cars. The new vehicle safety standards are expected to save more than 2,000 road deaths per year in the EU by 2032.
The online publication (in Dutch) of SWOV and RAI Association (veiligonderwegmetdeauto.nl) stated that cars have become 30 tot 40 percent safer over the past 10 years. The combined usage of systems like Advances Cruise Control (ACC), AEB and Forward Collision Warning (FCW) can reduce the amount of rear-end collisions with injury by 40 percent.
Improved safety standards for infrastructure
The European Commission has announced the safety standards for the main road network will be modifies. The Commission expects that better safety standards for roads could percent more than 3,000 road deaths by 2030.
Automated driving strategy
In order to embed autonomous vehicles in traffic safely in the future, the EC announces a collaboration between the EU, member states and the vehicle- and technology industry. All driver assistance systems approved in the EU today require that the driver is attentive at all times and in control of the vehicle. The EC’s vision is for Europe to be a world leader for fully autonomous safe mobility, leading to new jobs, economic growth, less traffic congestion and new mobility solutions for the elderly and physically impaired.
