Lucy Anderson (S&D). – Mr President, we are having this debate today because progress on road safety in Europe has been much too slow – we all know this. The Commission has been expected for some time to put forward revisions to vehicle safety, pedestrian protection and infrastructure safety rules, as well as new targets and measures to reduce serious road injuries. All of these have, quite frankly, been unacceptably delayed.

As the Commissioner said, in the meantime we have 70 road deaths every day on roads in the EU. In the UK, the latest annual figures show a 4% increase in road deaths from the previous year. As a representative from London, I do want to focus on urban areas. The Commissioner is right: what we actually need is a comprehensive approach. Technical vehicle safety measures are important but are only part of the answer. Pedestrians and cyclists are particularly at risk, as the statistics show all too clearly. Yes, we need our passengers and goods to be able to move around our cities, but prioritising pedestrians and cyclists and segregating them from other traffic wherever possible must be our ultimate goal.