Transport

Mental Health Europe (MHE) response on public transport

Mental Health Europe (MHE) has submitted its response to the European Commission´s Green Paper on urban transport, “Towards a new culture for urban mobility”.
Mental Health n Europe (MHE) report “From Exclusion to Inclusion – “The way forward to Promoting Social Inclusion of People with Mental health Problems in Europe. An analysis based on national reports from MHE members in the 27 EU Member States” highlights the problems that are faced by people with (...)

Children at risk: Hearing to increase protection at EU level

EuroSafe’s European Child Safety Alliance organised a hearing on Child Safety on the 09 November 2005 in Brussels. It was chaired by the Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Philip Whitehead, (PES - UK and chair of the Committee on Internal Market and Consumers).
The aims of the event were to set up recommendations for four technological changes that are required to reduce the high percentage of child deaths in Europe: front car design, safer cigarette manufacturing, child-resistance (...)

Giving vulnerable road users a voice in Europe

A new European project called VOICE (Vulnerable road user organisations in cooperation across Europe) has been launched by the European Transport Safety Council and the following organisations:
AGE - the European Older People’s Platform
ANEC - the European consumer voice in standardisation
EPHA Environment Network
European Child Safety Alliance
EDF - European Disability Forum
EPHA - European Public Health Alliance
European Federation for Transport and Environment
The principle aim of (...)

BMA Calls for International Action on Air Passenger Health and Safety

The British Medical Association is calling for national and international action to safeguard the health of air passengers, in a new report released on 31st of May 2004.
Despite numbering two billion a year, air travellers are not protected by regulated standards of healthcare or medical advice.
The Impact of Flying on Passenger Health: A Guide for Healthcare Professionals, from the BMA’s Board of Science and Education, reveals that there are no international obligations on airlines to (...)

With a Bike to School - Project of SWF

The Sustainable World Foundation (SWF), a recent new member of the EPHA Environment Network, carried out the project "With a Bike to School" in Sofia, (Bulgaria) from November 2001 to September 2002.
The project aimed to follow up the Master urban plan of Sofia and to extend the biking lines already existing in the city centre. This would offer safer roads and new bike parkings to school children.
As a follow up, SWF would like to expand the project in the District of Mladost in Sofia, (...)

RoSPA welcomes decision on mobiles

The UK Government has announced that it will be illegal to use a hand-held phone while driving from December 1, 2003.
This is the culmination of a long campaign by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents which knows of more than 20 deaths on Britain’s roads where mobile phones have been implicated.
Ideally, RoSPA would also like to see a ban on the use of hand-free phones while driving. Research shows that these make people more likely to have accidents, too.
The Royal Society (...)

EPHA position on the Green Paper on Urban Mobility

The European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) showed its support for the detailed response submitted by our member, European Heart Network, on the Green Paper on Urban Mobility launched by the Directorate-General for Energy and Transport.
Both responses are included.
For further information
Green Paper on Urban Mobility.
Directorate-General for Energy and Transport
EPHA related articles
EPHA presentation on Urban health - North West England Health (...)

"Time for action-towards sustainable consumption and production in Europe"

The report "Time for action-towards sustainable consumption and production in Europe", summarizes the recommendations of the event on "Sustainable Consumption and Production in Europe" held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, back in September last year. The report emphasizes the necessity to step up efforts towards sustainable consumption and production.
Nearly one hundred experts, representing governments, research institutions, non-government organizations (NGOs), business and international (...)

Streets for People: EU celebrates its 6th European Mobility Week

During the 6th annual European Mobility Week 2007 from 16 to 22 September, more than 133 million people across Europe will have the opportunity to benefit from initiatives promoting safe and environmentally sustainable urban mobility.
European Mobility Week aims to improve health and quality of life by promoting environmentally sustainable choices in urban mobility and transport.
European Mobility Week Activities
This European initiative creates an opportunity to implement a wide range of (...)

Call for an EU-wide zero alcohol limit for professional commercial drivers

The European Parliament Transport and Tourism Committee adopted in November 2006 a report stating that there there should be an EU-wide zero alcohol limit for new drivers and as well as for professional commercial vehicle or bus drivers involved in passenger transport.
According to the report, this is needed if the EU wants to seriously reduce the 40 000 recorded road fatalities every year.
The own initiative report drafted by Ewa Hedkvist Petersen (PES, SE) responds to the mid-term review (...)

Two Voice Mobility awards to local communities

The Voice project has given two awards for local communities or projects dedicated to promote the needs of disabled persons and improving road safety around schools.
The Voice project has given a Mobility award to Neil Betteridge, as chairman and representative of the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC), for their work to promote the needs of disabled persons in the UK and to ensure that they have access to all modes of transport.
The second Voice Mobility award goes to (...)

**UPDATED** Halving the number of road deaths by 2010

Efforts to improve Europe’s road safety record have gained momentum over the last few years. The following outlines the birth and progress of the Transport White Paper since 2001, the ambitions of the European Road Safety Action Programme, plus other road safety developments (and problems) up to the present day.
IN A NUTSHELL... Adopted in 2001, the European Commission’s (EC) Transport White Paper concerns future common transport policy. The 130-page document proposes 60 measures to (...)

Road Safety Award to Administrations

The VOICE (Vulnerable Road Users Organisations in Cooperation across Europe) campaign headed by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) and in which EPHA takes part, presented its awards for traffic law enforcement.
The EU member state administration with the best record is Finland, whilst the administration with the poorest record is Poland. These awards highlight the variable performance of EU member state Administrations in enforcing traffic laws and the effect this has on the (...)

**UPDATED**Fact sheets on Vulnerable road users

UPDATED with the Irish fact sheet. The VOICE (Vulnerable Road User Organisations in cooperation across Europe) project, in which EPHA is a partner, publishes informative factsheets on vulnerable road users. The first two ones concern Belgium and the United Kingdom.
The fact sheets aims to identify areas of concern for road safety, look at examples of best practice and provide an information base for campaigners.
They will target the following countries:
Austria,
Belgium,
Czech (...)

The impact of food and drink consumption on the environment

The European Environmental Agency (EEA) has issued a report analysing "Household consumption and the environment". It concludes that about one third of households’ total environmental impact is related to food and drink consumption.
Covering 31 European countries, the report structures its assessment of the environmental effects of household consumption into four categories: food and drink; housing; personal travel and mobility; and tourism.
Household consumption has increased and changed (...)

New UN remembrance day for road victims

A new remembrance day for road traffic accident victims is to be created following a vote by the United Nations General Assembly.
The remembrance day is to be held on the third Sunday of November. It is hoped that this day will help to improve accident prevention, without which the World Health Organisation (WHO) predicts that the number of fatalities and injuries will increase by about 65% by 2020.
According to the WHO World report on road traffic injury, published in 2004, 1.2 million (...)

Road Safety award to car manufacturer

The VOICE (Vulnerable road users Organisations In Cooperation across Europe) campaign headed by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) and in which EPHA takes part, gave its second awards in October to SEAT (progress) and Audi (failure).
The two awards aim to highlight progress or failures made to reduce the impact of car fronts on vulnerable road users. Hence encouraging a better protection of all citizens, from the car makers themselves. It should also be noted that SEAT and Audi (...)

Halving road accidents by 2010 on top of the European Parliament’s agenda

The European Parliament has adopted on the 29 September 2005 a report and a resolution drafted by Ari Vatanen (EPP - FR) advocating for a comprehensive three-strand-approach to halving road accidents by 2010, targeting safer cars, safer drivers and safer roads.
The former rally champion’s report responds to the European Commission’s third “European Safety Action Programme: Halving the number of road accident victims in the European Union by 2010”, published in June 2003, in (...)

Red Cross event on road safety

The end of the 3rd European Red Cross Safety Campaign was marked by a final event and press conference in Brussels on 13 September 2005.
The Road Safety Campaign has been coordinated by the British Red Cross and consisted of four teams of drivers and vehicles that have toured all of Europe to raise awareness about road safety. The aim of the campaign has been to contribute to a reduction in the number of people killed or injured in road traffic accidents through spreading important first (...)

Stakeholder consultation launched on urban environment

On 11 February 2004, DG Environment launched a consultation process on urban environment which invites comments on a draft strategy on improving the quality of life for citizens.
80 % of Europeans live in towns and cities but in many places, poor air quality, noise, heavy traffic, neglect of the built environment, poor environmental management and a lack of strategic planning have led to a lower quality of life, health problems and even premature deaths.
The Commission document identifies (...)

4th annual report on CO2 emissions from new cars

CO2 emissions from new passenger cars sold in the EU decreased by 10.8% between 1995 and 2002.
The 4th Annual Report on CO2 Emissions from New Cars was adopted by the European Commission on 12 February 2004.
The EU’s goal is to reach a 35% reduction by 2010 at the latest.
Commission press release.
EU strategy on CO2 emissions from passenger cars

WHO press release: tackling the rising death toll on roads

Representatives from more than 20 of the world’s leading road safety organizations representing rich and poor countries, gathered at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva to embark on a global road safety initiative.
"This is the first gathering of many of the most influential players in the road safety field, from victim associations, foundations, the automobile industry, and ministries of transport and health," said Dr LEE Jong-Wook, Director-General of WHO. "Combining such (...)

EU-wide carbon dioxide emissions charge for European airlines

The UK governement has open a consultation on how the aviation industry should deal with the external costs of noise, crowded skies and air pollution.
As part of the consultation, the government’s advisory Commission for Integrated Transport (CfiT) issued a report where it recommends the introduction of an EU-wide carbon dioxide emissions charge for European airlines.
Key recommendations in the (...)

Exploring the health and environment link throughout the world

The World Bank has issued an strategy paper on Health and environment.
The paper, published in October 2001 and writen by economist Ksenhya Lvovsky, highlights the inter-relationship between environment, public health and poverty in the industrialised and developing worlds.
It shows that holistic, multi-sectoral approaches are needed to improve health and particular attention must be given to the needs of the poor who suffer the greatest ill health from environmental (...)

EP prolongs ecopoint dispute

The Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism of the European Parliament did not accept a deal agreed in the Council on 31 December 2002 on transit of heavy goods vehicles through Austria, the so-called "ecopoints" system.
A large majority of members across the political landscape of the EP approved four compromise amendments, which are in conflict with the Council decision in December.
The committee wants environmentally-friendly lorries to be promoted and older lorries (...)

New Directive to tackle blind-spots

A new Directive on rear-view mirrors and supplementary indirect vision systems for motor vehicles has been approved.
This will tackle the notorious problem of ’blind spots’, where vehicle drivers are often unaware of other road users very close to their vehicles.
Blind spots are blamed for many serious road accidents at crossings, junctions and roundabouts, especially those involving pedestrians, cyclists and drivers of smaller motorcycles.
The new directive is based on studies and (...)

Commission presents a "road map" for safer intelligent vehicles

The Commission has presented on 17 November its vision for implementing eSafety, highlighting the necessary measures for the rapid take-up of active safety systems which use advanced Information and Communications Technologies (ICT).
Speaking at the High-Level Opening Plenary Session of the 10th ITS World Congress in Madrid, Erkki Liikanen, Commissioner for Enterprise Policy and the Information Society presented to the automotive industry and other stakeholders a detailed action plan, a (...)

No EU agreement on driving and rest times

The Commission tabled in August 2003 a proposal for a Directive on minimum conditions for the implementation of Directive 2002/15/EC, (which came into force in March 2005) and Council Regulations (EEC) Nos 3820/85 and 3821/85 concerning working time and social legislation relating to road transport activities. This Directive only covers commercial traffic.
The European Parliament’s Transport Committee modified the proposal on 15 March 2005. MEPs disagreed with the Council’s common position (...)

EU law makes seat belts obligatory in long distance buses and coaches

In May 2006, a new Directive (Directive 2003/20/EC) came into force that extends the obligatory use of seat belts to occupants of all motor vehicles, including trucks and coaches. However, there is an exemption for urban buses which are defined as having designated standing spaces.
The use of seat belts is crucial in the fight to reduce casualties on the roads. It has been estimated that unviersal seat belt usage alone can prevent 6,000 deaths per year in the EU-15. Although there has been (...)

Consultation on safety and environmental standards in cars

The European Commmission has launched a public consultation called "The Automotive Regulatory Framework of the Next 10 Years" to gather the views of all interested parties on the most appropriate regulatory framework which is conducive to the sustainable development and long-term competitiveness for the European automotive sector whilst ensuring safety and environmental standards.
The results of the consultation will be used by the high-level group set up on the 13 January by the European (...)

Driving licences in the EU

The proposal for a European-wide driving license was rejected by a minority of national governments in the Transport Council’s meeting in June 2005.
Transport ministers could not agree on a pan-European license to replace the existing 110 types of licenses that can be found around Europe. Germany, France, Denmark, Austria and Poland created a blocking minority.
They all objcted to the parts of the proposal which would require drivers handing in their current licenses. This objection was (...)

Evidence links long work shifts to road traffic accidents

A US study "Extended Work Shifts and the Risk of Motor Vehicle Crashes among Interns", medical interns who work shifts longer than 24 hours are more than twice as likely to have a car crash leaving the hospital and five times as likely to have a "near miss" incident on the road as medical interns who work shorter shifts.
The research is the third in a series of studies on the impact of extended work hours and fatigue on interns conducted by the same group of scientists. All three were (...)

Ministerial Conference on Traffic Safety

The Italian government in cooperation with the Dutch presidency hosted a ministerial conference on traffic safety on 25-26 October 2004 in Verona.
Already in 2003, the ministers of transportation from 30 European countries discussed traffic safety in the framework of the European objective for the reduction of the number of traffic casualties by 50% by 2010 (see EPHA’s related article "Halving the number of road deaths by 2010". A factsheet on the need for enforcing traffic rules has been (...)

Enforcing traffic laws would save lives

A comprehensive factsheet has been drawn up by the European Transport Safety Council highlighting the need for Traffic Law Enforcement in the EU to reduce road deaths and injuries.
Each year there are some 50,000 fatalities on EU member states roads with approximately 2 million casualties.
It is stated in the factsheet that most drivers involved in traffic crashes do not comply with speed limits, blood alcohol levels and/or the EU wide obligation to wear safety belts. These are the three (...)

EU initatives for road safety

The European Commission’s Group of experts on accidents in the transport sector held its first plenary session on 14 July 2004.
The group, which will advise the Commission on its transport safety strategy, was created in June 2003 and has 12 appointed members, out of 100 candidates from across Europe.
During the first plenary session, the group has given itself a mandate defining the aspects falling into its remit. It has set up five working groups to cover the four sectors of transport (...)