Today, the European Commission has published the results of the Baseline project on 8 key performance indicators that influence road safety in Europe. This study aimed to give a clearer understanding of road safety performance in the participating Member States, to assist Member States in developing harmonised methodologies for collecting road safety indicator data, and to build capacity in the authorities that had not previously collected and calculated such data.
The key performance indicators addressed in this project were on speeding; drink-driving; distraction; use of seatbelts and child restraint systems; use of helmets; vehicle safety; infrastructure safety and quality of post-crash care. While the study revealed a high level of compliance with road traffic rules, there is clearly still significant room for improvement. For instance, 1-2% of drivers who are shown to be driving under the influence of alcohol represents billions of kilometres being driven under the influence each year, by millions of drivers. The study also revealed significant variations between Member States, depending on the indicator in question.
This project is the biggest effort ever undertaken in Europe (and beyond) in the field of data collection and analysis for road safety performance indicators. It will help underpin road safety strategies and their monitoring at national and European level. Work to monitor progress over time will continue with the Trendline project, which will review and refine the methodology for data collection, will expand to some new experimental indicators, and will place greater emphasis on using key performance indicators for road safety policy.
Details
- Publication date
- 30 March 2023
- Author
- Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport