Every year, more and more people are Googling “truck towing near me” as a result of getting involved in some kind of road accident. And while technology help in aiming for a safer road for everyone, we are still far from a car accident-free society.
What do politicians and industry have to do to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured in road traffic? The ten top demands of the German Road Safety Council provide the answer. These focus on those aspects whose implementation would be particularly effective in reducing the number of fatalities and serious injuries. “We hope that both politics and industry will make the top demands a basis for their work and implement them,” says DVR President Dr. Walter Eichendorf.
Although the focus of the demands is on Germany, numerous measures can be transferred almost 1:1 to the road safety work of many other countries. “In view of the approximately 1.25 million people killed worldwide every year, road safety has long been a global challenge,” adds Clemens Klinke, Member of the Executive Board of DEKRA SE and responsible for the Automotive Business Unit and Vice President of the DVR. Therefore, all parties involved must pull together in order to counteract this efficiently and sustainably.
And this is what the demands look like in detail:
Top 1: Strengthening traffic monitoring in a targeted manner.
- Increase the financial and human resources of the police and corresponding state surveillance bodies accordingly and improve education and training;
- Strengthen the prevention and prosecution of traffic offenses through improved administrative cooperation;
- Carry out the Section Control model test.
Top 2: Adjust top speeds.
- Reduce maximum speed to 80 km/h on country roads with a width of 6 meters or less;
- Enforce a ban on overtaking on rural roads in areas with insufficient overtaking visibility;
- Carry out a model test to reverse the control speed in urban areas from 50 to 30 km/h.
Top 3: Prevent tree accidents.
- Make side spaces of country roads barrier-free;
- Increase the use of passive protective devices for existing trees in the critical area;
- Reduce the speed limit on tree-lined roads and monitor compliance efficiently.
Top 4: Increase safety for motorcyclists.
- Implement the leaflet on improving road infrastructure for motorcyclists (MVMot 2018) comprehensively and in all countries;
- Improve the recognisability of motorcyclists.
Top 5: Increase security by improving infrastructure.
- Consistently apply proven infrastructure measures;
- Ensure the use of the instruments traffic inspection, accident commission, inventory audit, and safety audit;
- Increase safety at intersections, junctions, and roundabouts.
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Top 6: Promoting driver assistance systems, automation, and connectivity.
- Consistently promote and enforce equipping vehicles with safety-relevant driver assistance systems;
- Use the proven safety potential of automated driving functions and connected driving.
Top 7: Increase safety for pedestrians and cyclists.
- improve infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists;
- increase the visibility of pedestrians and cyclists;
- Promote the wearing of helmets by cyclists or pedelecs;
- Develop and prescribe Sideguard Assist;
- Make “Dutch handle” public.
Top 8: Prevent driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
- Enforce a ban on drink-driving;
- Introduce alcohol interlock programs;
- For cyclists administrative offenses from 1.1 per thousand introduce blood alcohol concentration.
Top 9: Improving the qualification of novice drivers.
- Promote accompanied driving;
- Introduce mandatory extension of learning time for novice drivers;
- Develop a curriculum for driver training and make it mandatory.
Top 10: Reduce the dangers of distraction.
- Generate behavioral change in the use of information and communication systems such as smartphones;
- Exploit technical possibilities to reduce the risk of distraction.