Traffic offences - no more immunity on foreign roads
Immunity for bad and dangerous drivers may be coming to an end. © BELGA PHOTO HERWIG VERGULT
Drivers caught speeding abroad must no longer be able to avoid prosecution, say MEPs on Parliament's Transport Committee, who overwhelmingly voted to back a report that will make cross border law enforcement easier. Last year over 40,000 people lost their lives on Europe's roads and MEPs want coordinated European action on the causes of 75% of those fatalities: speeding, drink driving, not wearing a seatbelt and failing to stop at red lights.
The legislation is part of a European Commission initiative to halve road deaths in Europe between 2001 and 2010. At the start of this decade they stood at 54,000 a year, the target is to bring them down to 27,000 by the end of this decade.
Current rules discriminate
Research for the European Commission shows that non-resident drivers account for a disproportionately high number of road traffic accidents - particularly speeding offences. The Transport Committee believes current rules discriminate against residents who face penalties foreign drivers generally avoid.
Speaking after the vote, the Committee's rapporteur, Spanish Socialist Inés Ayala Sender, said that "with this directive we provide Member States' authorities with an instrument that could end EU foreigners' impunity... we say no to first and second league's citizens."
Enforcement of fines
MEPs back proposals to make it easier to make cross-border payments - in this case fines - whilst protecting personal privacy. The Transport Committee also wants more information exchange between EU members, through an electronic data exchange network. Finally, if a motorist refuses to pay a fine, the matter would be passed on to the authorities in their home country, who could force them to pay.
Roads in Baltic States 3 times as dangerous as Sweden, The Netherlands
There are huge disparities in road safety across the 27-member EU bloc. Generally speaking, road travel is most dangerous in Greece and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. For example you are three times more likely to die on the roads in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia than in Sweden and the Netherlands, which have among the safest roads in Europe. Some improvements have been made - France and Portugal have cut road deaths by 40% since 2001. In France it is estimated this has saved 3,500 lives.
MEPs will take an initial vote on this legislation during the October plenary.
The EU will celebrate the second road safety day on 13 October 2008 in Paris.