Koch (PPE-DE). – (DE) Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, over recent months, a series of accidents involving buses, some of them serious, has led to public disquiet and to many bodies now giving their close attention to the question of whether the present rules on bus safety are adequate or whether they have to be made more extensive. In so doing, they have shed light on the position as regards the law, organisational issues, and the technical state of the art. To sum all this up, there is a strong common interest in not damaging the buses’ image as a basically very safe means of transport, with buses and coaches accounting for only 0.2 deaths per thousand million passenger-kilometres, compared with 6.8 for private cars and 0.6 for railways. I would not want to let this opportunity go by without expressing my gratitude and appreciation to the many reputable bus companies and their drivers.

It would appear that the consensual view is that what is lacking is primarily attributable to the human factor on the one hand and to the way laws are implemented on the other. Does the Commission think it possible that the situation may be improved, above all by influencing how people behave in road traffic and within enterprises, but also by the exchange of information? Secondly, is it not the case that greater use should be made of the opportunities for monitoring vehicles and their drivers, in order to be able to identify those we call the black sheep and make them take responsibility for their actions? I take the view that, thirdly, checks should be carried out to see whether the standards for testing currently in force are sufficient to ensure that the main examinations and safety tests on buses are carried out to a qualitatively high standard. As the use of electronic components to ensure the stability and safety of vehicles increases, all the more necessary, I believe, does the regular inspection of this electronic equipment become. Fourthly, I expect the Commission to give priority to the safety of buses and coaches when it submits its proposal on the Third Action Programme on Road Safety.