17 May 2018| Brussels, Belgium

The European Commission releases the third set of actions to modernise European transport sector stressing the role of road infrastructure as key element of the road safety triangle complementing users and vehicles.

New actions of the mobility package include the revision of the Road Infrastructure Safety Management Directive and the General Safety Regulation with measures such as:

• Extension of current scope beyond the TEN-T network, in particular on the primary road network, which accounts for a high percentage of road fatalities
• Properly designed and maintained markings and signs, which could be easily and reliably recognised by both human drivers and vehicles equipped with driver assistance systems or higher levels of automation
• Development of general performance requirements to facilitate the recognition of road markings and road signs
• Inclusion of new safety features in vehicles, such as Lane Keeping Assistance (LKA) and Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) to better interact with the infrastructure

While recognising the positive impact of the current legislative framework, especially on the TEN-T, the ERF highly supports the new vision of the European Commission which can definitely facilitate an even bigger reduction in fatalities and serious injuries to achieve desired road safety targets.

“The initial proposal is quite promising and we hope that Council and Parliament understand that to become global leaders in road safety, we not only need a regulatory support but also financial effort, in particular on primary roads that are not part of the TEN-T but carry similar traffic flow” said ERF Director General Christophe Nicodème. “Our organisation can be seen as a trustworthy partner to build and maintain a safer road network, more specifically through dedicated Working Groups which will continue contributing to adapt road elements to the new safety challenges”.