For Renew Europe, mobility cannot come at the cost of lives

In 2019, the last known statistical year, the EU suffered 23,000 deaths in road accidents, and 120,000 injuries. It is a startling statistic, close to that of 2018, which saw little improvement for several years. For Renew Europe, this slaughter on the European roads must come to an end. This is the focal point of the report on the EU's political framework for road safety for the decade 2021-2030, adopted today by the Parliamentary Transport Committee (TRAN), which makes a series of recommendations for achieving a “Vision Zero” of fatalities and serious injuries by 2050, based on three pillars: safer vehicles, safer roads and improved emergency services.

Ilhan KYUCHYUK (Movement for Rights and Freedoms, Bulgaria), shadow rapporteur for Renew Europe in TRAN, said: “The statistics are startling and we should not forget that behind the numbers there are people, lives lost, dreams shattered. This is an unacceptable and unnecessary human and social price to pay for mobility. The Renew Europe position is based on more intensive and cooperative efforts to develop strong European road safety policies with stakeholders, research and innovation support, in order to achieve better enforcement and crash response, ultimately aiming for sustainable and safe mobility in Europe.”

Renew Europe insisted in particular on improving the enforcement of traffic rules, signs and signals and introducing self-enforcing roads, specifically in dangerous zones, with a prevalence of vulnerable road users. The Group also called for harmonisation of the national approaches to road safety, including extending the “EU Road Safety Exchange” programme and introducing key performance indicators for road safety. It also insisted on awareness raising and information campaigns as well as for securing effective follow-up victim support. Finally, Renew Europe urges the Member States to provide sufficient funding for upgrading emergency infrastructure, including for air medical services, especially for remote, mountainous and island regions.

For more information, please contact

Laude Yannick

Tel : +32 2 284 31 69

Mob : +32 495 22 78 37

Email : yannick.laude@europarl.europa.eu