Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-05-30-Speech-3-208"
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"en.20010530.12.3-208"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, the latest findings in accident research show that 50% of fatally injured vehicle occupants do not have their seatbelts fastened. Tremendous progress has been made in road traffic safety. I come from part of a country where there were no child seats or child restraint systems at all ten years ago and retractable seat belts were a luxury. Then in 1991 I had the opportunity of being involved with devising the compulsory seat belt directive.
Today we are already talking about the need to adapt that directive to scientific and technical progress. The wide-ranging findings of accident research and the modern safety restraint systems developed by the industry make the present-day situation unacceptable. It is irresponsible to allow children under three years of age to be carried on the back seats of cars without anything to hold them or in child seats on the passenger seat without switching off the airbag. It must no longer be permissible for larger children to be secured using the belt intended for adults. Exceptions from the general compulsory safety belt rule for lorry drivers, for example, must in future also be things of the past.
The proposal embodied in six amendments tabled by the European Parliament to amend the directive in question will, among other things, make for technically safer solutions and above all ones that are easier for the consumer to use. The latter point in particular makes it more likely that the restraint systems fitted will actually be used. More than 50% of children still travel without using a seat belt, even where restraints are present in the vehicle. Parents seem to be unaware that the risk of their children suffering a serious or even fatal injury as a result of an accident is seven times greater if they are not wearing a seat belt.
Development work is continuing. Present-day child restraint systems are evaluated on the basis of frontal crash test results and almost always get good marks. However, 70% of all fatal accidents involving children in cars are the result of side crashes. That is where these systems fail. I recommend acceptance of the amendments before us today for adapting the directive."@en1
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