Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-05-25-Speech-3-181"
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"en.20050525.19.3-181"2
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"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, I am standing in today for our colleague, Dr Koch, who, as chairman of the European Movement in Thuringia, is chairing an international symposium on the Constitutional Treaty there, which is of course also an important matter.
In this context, I should like to thank Mr Costa and the other shadow rapporteurs, as well as Mrs Hedkvist Petersen for her skilful negotiating as rapporteur on the frontal protection systems on passenger cars, which really do pose a huge danger in accidents involving unprotected road users, principally in urban areas. We are now ensuring that rigid frontal protection systems are banned on new vehicles of up to 3.5 tonnes. In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, the Member States may also subject existing vehicles to these rules and authorise flexible frontal protection systems, but only if they have passed a harmonised test procedure.
I think that this will improve pedestrian protection and benefit all of those who, particularly in cities, really are the weakest on our roads.
The first part of my contribution to this debate will be concerned with three closely connected proposals for directives, for which Dr Koch and Mr Costa are the rapporteurs. At issue, as the Commissioner has already explained, are seats, safety belts and head restraints, with their respective anchorages in vehicles.
In the second part, I should like to address the issue of frontal protection systems, or bull bars, on passenger cars, again on behalf of Dr Koch, but this time in his capacity as shadow rapporteur. This is important for protecting pedestrians, and in particular children, cyclists and wheelchair users.
On the first part: tomorrow, when we adopt the Koch report, we will take a major step towards improving road safety. In so doing we will also help to reduce bureaucracy and secure jobs. We know that a properly fitted safety belt can reduce the severity of injuries and save lives, which is why it is right to require all seats in vehicles to be equipped with safety belts. It will therefore become mandatory for seat belts to be fitted, not only in passenger cars, as has been the case up until now, but also in other categories of vehicles, in particular minibuses and certain other buses, as well as light and heavy goods vehicles.
The ban on the use of side
facing seats in passenger cars, goods vehicles and certain categories of buses is also to be welcomed. However, we should allow an exemption for such seats in large conference buses of category M3, and I am pleased that the Commission agrees. Nevertheless, these seats should only be permitted if they are fitted with suitable safety belts and are grouped together at the back of the vehicle, preferably in a U
shape, around a table. This arrangement should apply for at least five years. On the basis of the actual accident data available at that time and taking into account developments in safety
belt systems, this arrangement will then have to be extended, preferably as part of a Community type approval for all categories of vehicle.
I am pleased that the Council and the Commission have revised their original opinion and now also see this as a workable basis for future type approvals. After all, neither the available accident statistics nor studies or tests suggest that passengers travelling in side
facing seats in large conference buses are at increased risk. This is due in part to different vehicles being susceptible to different types of accidents, which affect them in different ways. In the case of passenger cars and minibuses, a frontal impact is typical. This means that significant forwards forces are exerted on the passengers, but also of course on the seats and restraint systems.
Large buses are quite different: in the event of an accident they tend to overturn. The belts’ function in this case is not to absorb horizontal forces; instead they serve primarily to keep passengers in their seats and prevent them from being hurled out of the vehicle. These requirements can be met just as effectively – if not better – by belts fitted to side
facing seats as those fitted to forwards
or backwards
facing ones.
The compromise that has been reached, with which the Commission and the Council have indicated that they can agree, will help to bring down bureaucratic barriers in the Member States. This is because national exemptions can already be granted today for buses produced in small series, with the bureaucratic effort that this entails. But this stands in contradiction to the internal market strategy and even allows side
facing seats without belts to be authorised.
In making this decision, we are therefore in any case contributing to improving safety, not only on the roads, but also in the internal market. In addition, we are determining the future viability of a typically European product in the tourism sector, the VIP or conference bus. This means that jobs in manufacturing and bus companies will be secured and passengers will continue to enjoy high, or even higher, standards of comfort. An agreement with the Council and the Commission makes it likely that the directive will be adopted quickly, even this year, and at the same time the Koch report of course also paves the way for the two Costa reports to be adopted."@en1
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