[REPORT]
European Road Safety Charter reaches 1000 members
Commissioner Barrot declared that significant achievements had been made by the European Road Safety Charter since its creation in 2004.
"The number of signatories has increased greatly," he stated. "We now have one thousand members! This indicates strong social commitment. We wanted to trigger awareness as to the importance of the issue of road safety, and this objective has been achieved."
On the occasion of the presentation of the Excellence in Road Safety Awards, Jacques Barrot, Commissioner in charge of transport, reviewed the European Road Safety Charter.
Its objective is to save 25,000 lives a year by 2010. Its concept, that of shared responsibility, is original: efforts to limit the number of victims are made through collective awareness and commitment on the part of civil society. The added value of the charter lies in the variety of commitments undertaken, particularly in the two new Member States, Bulgaria and Romania, which contribute innovative solutions to the problems of road safety."
On 26 November 2007, Jacques Barrot who is also Vicepresident of the European Commission presented the Excellence in Road Safety Awards for the second year running.
Every year, these trophies recognise the most innovative and effective road accident prevention initiatives, in the form of exemplary practices planned and deployed by the signatories of the European Road Safety Charter. The ceremony brought together over 150 people in Brussels.
Jacques Barrot discussed the challenges for the European Road Safety Charter over the coming years.
What is at stake over the next three years for the European Road Safety Charter?
"We now need to go further, answered the Vice-President of the European Commission, and we seek the most innovative experiences in order to educate the younger generations about road safety. We also need to link more companies to the charter. Human resource directors know that they can contribute to avoiding accidents among employees during working hours and the journey to and from work, which is when many accidents occur. Finally, greater commitment on the part of cities and regions in Europe should be made, as campaigns that they can carry out among European citizens have proved to be extremely effective."
Links:
[INDEX]
ACEM'S POSITION ON GREEN PAPER ON URBAN MOBILITY
OPEN LETTER ON EUROPEAN INFRASTRUCTURE DIRECTIVE
MAIDS AND TRACE-PROJECT
ACEM actively supports the "shared responsibility" spirit of the European Road Safety Charter's 50% casualties reduction in the EU by 2010. By signing the Charter in 2004 ACEM members have committed themselves to the progressive introduction of advanced braking systems as well as safety-oriented advertising guidelines. ACEM also finances, implements and participates to road safety projects aimed at contributing to curbing road accidents.