Road safety: EU road fatalities fall by 11% in 2010

The European Commission has published new statistics showing that EU road fatalities decreased by 11% in 2010 (reports ACEM, the European motorcycle manufacturers' association). However, country by country statistics (see table below), show that the number of deaths still varies greatly across the EU.

Most countries achieved double-digit reductions in the number of road deaths over the past year, the best ones being Luxembourg (33%), Malta (29%) Sweden (26%) and Slovakia (26%). However there is still a lot of work to be done.

Road fatalities by country (per million inhabitants)

Member State / Fatalities by population / Evolution of fatalities

	2001	2010	2009 - 2010	2001 - 2010
Latvija	236	97	-14.00%	-61.00%
Lietuva	202	90	-19.00%	-58.00%
Spain	136	54	-9.00%	-55.00%
Sweden	66	28	-26.00%	-54.00%
Luxembourg	159	64	-33.00%	-54.00%
Slovenia	114	53	-25.00%	-53.00%
Ireland	107	45	-16.00%	-51.00%
France	134	62	-7.00%	-51.00%
Slovenia	140	68	-19.00%	-50.00%
Portugal	163	79	1.00%	-49.00%
Germany	85	45	-12.00%	-48.00%
United Kingdom	61	31	-18.00%	-47.00%
The Netherlands	62	32	-17.00%	-46.00%
Belgium	145	76	-12.00%	-44.00%
Italy	125	66	-6.00%	-44.00%
EU	112	62	-11.00%	-43.00%
Austria	119	66	-13.00%	-42.00%
Estonia	146	88	20.00%	-41.00%
Hungary	121	74	-10.00%	-40.00%
Czech Republic	130	76	-11.00%	-40.00%
Cyprus	140	75	-15.00%	-39.00%
Denmark	81	48	-13.00%	-39.00%
Finland	84	51	-1.00%	-36.00%
Greece	172	116	-10.00%	-30.00%
Poland	145	102	-15.00%	-29.00%
Bulgaria	124	102	-14.00%	-23.00%
Malta	41	36	-29.00%	-6.00%
Romania	109	111	-15.00%	-3.00%

The table shows progress under the 2001–10 road safety action plan, with EU-wide figures and a breakdown per country. It includes the most recent figures for 2010. EU road safety action plan In July 2010 the Commission adopted challenging plans to reduce the number of road deaths on Europe's roads by half in the next 10 years. Initiatives proposed in the "European Road Safety Policy Orientations 2011-2020" range from setting higher standards for vehicle safety, to improving the training of road users, and increasing the enforcement of road rules.

The Commission is working closely with Member States to implement this programme. Road safety action programme 2011–20: The Road Safety action programme sets out a mix of initiatives focussing on making improvements to vehicles, infrastructure and road users' behaviour.

There are seven strategic objectives:
• Improved safety measures for trucks and cars
• Building safer roads
•Developing intelligent vehicles
• Strengthening licensing and training
•Better enforcement
• Targeting injuries
• A new focus on motorcyclists

The European Commission intends to propose the following measures for powered two wheelers:

• to introduce a number of functional vehicle safety measures like e.g. mandatory fitting of Advanced Brake Systems, Automatic Headlamp On and updated anti-tampering measures (so speed contols cannot be removed) for certain categories of PTWs

• to develop technical standards on protective equipment such as clothing, and to study the feasibility of equipping motorcycles with an airbag and/or including the airbag in the protective clothing,

• to extend EU legislation on road worthiness testing/inspections to motorbikes and other powered two wheelers (which does not exist at the moment)

Source: European Commission

OK COMMUTER

UK traffic levels rose by 8% between 1999 to 2009 and the average vehicle speed during the peak morning rush hour on locally managed 'A' roads is now just 25 mph. So why aren't hard pressed commuters turning to motorcycles in their thousands to solve their transport woes? Come to think of it, why aren't more motorcycle owners riding to work?

Not only does Great Britain have one of the lowest motorcycle ownership rates in Europe, (only the Republic of Ireland has a fewer bike owners), but we don't seem to use them very much. Although one in every 33 vehicles is a motorcycle, they account for just 1% of traffic.

That's becuas the average annual mileage for private cars is 12,000, but for a motorcycle it's less than 4,000. However, it's not only the distance travelled by bike that is lower than cars, but also the frequency. Figures released by the Department for Transport show that the number of weekly trips made by bike has decreased from 11 in the mid 1980's to eight by 2008. During the same period the average distance driven per week, and the amount of time spent doing it, have both increased. Add into that escalating fuel prices (over £6 for a gallon of unleaded is being reported in Jan 2011) and you would expect more people using two wheelers to save time and money, whereas in fact people are riding fewer miles less often.

As proved by the recent winter, the coldest in years, British riders are at the mercy of the weather. Riding in the UK is highly seasonal, April through to September being the peak months. A wet summer, like 2009 when UK rainfall was 40% above average, reduces the limited riding season still further. Since most households with a bike also own at least one car, the vast majority of Britain's 1.3 million motorcyclists can always leave the bike parked on rainy days and drive to work instead.

This is a great shame, because we are completely reliant on cars in this country, with seven out of ten people outside London travelling to work by car. Even a modest increase in motorcycle use could make a significant impact in reducing congestion, but how can existing owners be encouraged to use their bikes more often? Opening up bus lanes to bikes nationwide would certanly be an incentive and would remove much of the risk that is inherent when filtering through queuing traffic. Meanwhile the motorcycle industry needs to consider how it sells and markets new machines. While supersport bikes offer unrivalled levels of performance, they are not ideal transport for short distance commuting. So how do we make pratical middleweight all-rounder motorcycles more atractive?