Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-06-17-Speech-2-456"
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"en.20080617.42.2-456"2
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".
Mr President, the car has of course been steadily gaining ground for a long time now. In towns and cities, areas that used to be the domain of pedestrians, children playing, trees, parks, gardens or free-standing tram tracks were converted into space for cars between 1950 and 1980. Even country roads have been widened or supplemented with wide transit motorways. Public transport, on the other hand, has become more expensive, whilst routes and frequencies have been cut. Even the construction of underground rail networks has by no means always been aimed at faster public transport with more room for large numbers of passengers; it has been more a case of making room for cars on the roads above the underground rail tunnels.
The location of their workplace and the lack of alternative modes of transport means that many people are now condemned to travel by car. This takes up a great deal of space and energy, harms air quality and causes an unnecessary amount of noise. Primarily, however, it is a danger to pedestrians and cyclists, who have to share scarce public space with cars.
When we in this Parliament talk about measures to protect pedestrians and other vulnerable road users, for the most part we are not referring to alternatives to cars, sadly, but rather how to design these so as to limit the harm caused in the event of a collision. For years we have been focusing our discussions here on headlights, brake systems and vehicle front ends capable of injuring pedestrians. The European Commission is now proposing to replace the 2003 and 2005 Directives, which required Member States to incorporate better safety measures into national legislation, with a regulation by means of which the European Union directly imposes its own legislation. The choice of a regulation is a quick way of offering the most safety and uniformity for automotive engineering companies, but is not without disadvantages. For example, we are pushing democratic considerations within Member States further into the background. In addition, this regulation would not enter into force until 2014, and in the case of phase II would be more moderate than the provisions of the existing Directive.
I support the aim of the rapporteur, Mr Ferrari, to introduce safety measures as quickly as possible. My group can endorse this modest improvement, as every little helps, but more is required to bring about genuine safety. Combating a further increase in the number of cars and reducing the number if possible would be the best contribution to safety."@en1
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