Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-06-18-Speech-3-416"
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"en.20080618.29.3-416"2
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"Mr President, before I contribute to the debate, I should like to congratulate the Commissioner on his appointment.
A degree of progress has been made in the area of road safety by taking appropriate action regarding vehicles and drivers. There is still much to be done, however, as the statistics are alarming. Some 43 000 people die every year on the European Union’s roads. At global level, the number of fatalities in road accidents is even more horrifying, as it amounts to 1.2 million individuals. Almost one third of deaths amongst young people are due to accidents.
The initiative aimed at improving the safety of road infrastructure is very important. This is because the physical condition of the roads is a major contributory factor to the number of accidents that occur on them every day. Much of the existing road network was created decades ago. It no longer meets current safety standards due to its physical condition and state of repair, and also because of present-day traffic levels.
I share the rapporteur’s view that this directive should apply not just to trans-European road networks: its scope should be much broader. According to the statistics, only 7% of fatal accidents happen on motorways. Two-thirds of those who lose their lives in road accidents are victims of accidents on single carriageway roads outside built up areas and in the countryside. Safety issues must be taken into account at the planning and design stage, including the planning of road infrastructure, as well as when the roads come into use."@en1
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