Two new reports from the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) have suggested that declines in the level of police enforcement of traffic offences are contributing to Europe’s failure to cut the numbers dying in road collisions.
More than 26,000 people died on EU roads last year, the first increase since 2001 according to the ETSC. Exceeding speed limits, drink or distracted driving and a failure to wear a seat belt are apparently still the leading causes of death and serious injury on the roads across Europe.
In a separate report on enforcement, ETSC found that in over half the countries where data is available, the number of tickets issued over the last five years for use of a mobile phone while driving has reduced, suggesting lower levels of enforcement across Europe.
Sweden, The Netherlands and Finland are among countries that have reported falls in speeding tickets issued, and these countries have also seen some of the biggest slow-downs in reducing road deaths since 2010. In the UK, where deaths have also been slow to reduce, the number of tickets issued fell after 2010 when Government cuts affected enforcement levels but tickets issued are starting to increase again.
On drink driving, half of the countries that provided data showed a decrease in the number of enforcement checks since 2010, and half showed an increase. It is estimated that up to 2% of distance travelled in the EU is driven with an illegal Blood Alcohol Concentration but a quarter of all road deaths in the EU are alcohol related.
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Source:
http://etsc.eu/cuts-to-police-enforcement-across-europe-doubly-damaging-for-road-safety/
