ACEA

European automobile industry signs European Road Safety Charter and joins “eSafetyAware”

November 2006 - ACEA, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, announced in October 2006 its active participation in two important initiatives to improve the safety of drivers, passengers and other road users.

Early October, ACEA joined eSafetyAware, putting industry’s full weight behind implementation of a new generation of road safety tools. eSafetyAware is part of the EU’s i2010 “Information Society for Growth” initiative and aims at increasing awareness of the benefits of eSafety products in vehicles.

On November 4, ACEA has signed the European Road Safety Charter at the fourth Ministerial Conference on road safety in Verona. “Road safety is a distinctive element of sustainable mobility. The European automobile industry has a long-standing track record of developing safer vehicles and is relentlessly committed to reduce further casualties and injuries on our roads”, says Ivan Hodac, Secretary-General of the Brussels based association.

The European Road Safety Charter is part of the ambitious EU community goal to reduce the number of casualties in road accidents by 50% in 2010. By signing the Charter, the European automobile industry pledges to continue progressively equipping cars and heavy trucks with seatbelt warning systems. By 2010, an overwhelming majority of new vehicles will feature with this life-saving tool.

In particular the fitting of seatbelts has contributed to an 80% decrease in fatal or serious injuries in road accidents in the past three decades. But many serious injuries still occur because fitted seatbelts are not used. Alerting car users to wear seatbelts is an effective way to combat this trend. As a further contribution to the Road Safety Charter, European automobile manufacturers will progressively build coaches with electronically controlled stabilising systems. This will result in all coaches being equipped with such systems in 2010.

The European Road Safety Charter brings many initiatives and stakeholders together under one umbrella. “This is particularly relevant in areas of great complexity, such as improving road safety, and very much in the spirit of CARS 21”, says Hodac. In 2005, the EU High-level Group on a Competitive Automotive Regulatory System for the 21st Century, CARS 21, recommended an “integrated approach” to achieve common goals in a cost-effective manner with the involvement of the industry, public authorities, road users and other relevant parties.



European Commissioner Jacques Barrot (left) and ACEA Secretary-General Ivan Hodac sign the European Road Safety Charter at the Road Safety Council in Verona, October 2006.

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